As You Like It

by William Shakespeare

seen at Shakespeare's Globe on 30 May 2018

Federay Holmes and Elle While direct Jack Laskey as Rosalind, Bettrys Jones as Orlando, Nadia Nadarajah as Celia, Pearce Quigley as Jacques and Helen Schlesinger as both Duke Senior and Duke Frederick, with support from others in the company, in this new production paired with Hamlet (reviewed earlier this month). As in Hamlet the casting is 'gender-blind' with some very interesting and amusing results. In particular, though a number of male Rosalinds have been seen since Adrian Lester's beguiling performance in the 1990s, it is unusual to have a female Orlando. In fact, Jack Laskey himself took the part in the Globe's 2009 production opposite Naomi Frederick's Rosalind.

As You Like It

by William Shakespeare

seen at the National Theatre (Olivier) on 15 December 2015

This modern-set production is directed by Polly Findlay with sets designed by Lizzie Clachan and it features Rosalie Craig as Rosalind and Joe Bannister as Orlando, with Patsy Ferran as Celia, Paul Chahidi as Jacques, Philip Arditti as Oliver and Mark Benton as Touchstone.

Banks of computer desks on a carpet of brightly-coloured rectangles greet us, with many besuited employees busy hot-desking. In a nice nod to the later pastoral setting, the screen savers are of lush English trees and the post-it notes are all green; there are bonsai trees on every desk. A young man in overalls arrives with a toolbox and starts tinkering with a machine, then polishing some glass.

Suddenly, he is Orlando, bemoaning his lot, a mere drudge in his brother's prosperous IT firm. Soon, the same set, without the bonsai and with less idyllic screensavers, is the domain of Duke Frederick, and somehow (despite the implausibility) there is a wrestling match set up in front of all the desks.