This Summer has been a triumph of Shakespeare al fresco. From multiple Much Ados’ in Uni Parks and Worcester College Garden, to the three companies bringing four plays to life at Oxford Castle and Prison, there has been no shortage of the Bard backed by breeze and birdsong. Now until the 17th of August, Creation Theatre throws their hat in the ring with a warm and folksy production of As You Like It, staged in a large white pavilion on the grounds of Wycliffe Hall.
My most recent Shakespeare production was Wild Goose Theatre’s sublime Twelfth Night, and it was easy to draw comparisons between the plot of that play and this one. Both use a female character disguising herself as a man as a major plot point and both are romantic comedies, as defined by their tidy everyone-gets-coupled-up endings. Personally, I think As You Like It proves a trickier challenge to its director: the side characters lack the vibrancy of Twelfth Night’s, and the extremely character-driven story can sag in places if the audience isn’t entirely gripped by the leads’ performances.
A brief intro to the plot: Rosalind and Celia are cousins and best friends. Celia’s father Duke Frederick, usurps his brother - Rosalind’s father - Duke Senior, seizing control of the duchy and banishing him from court.
In parallel, we meet another warring set of brothers, Oliver and Orlando. Orlando participates in a wrestling match attended by Rosalind, and experiences love at first sight. The feeling is mutual, but when he realizes Oliver is plotting to seriously harm him, Orlando flees into the Forest of Arden.
Rosalind angers the Duke and is banished, and Celia vows to go with her. For protection, the two hatch a plan to disguise themselves: Rosalind as a strapping young man named Ganymede and Celia as his sister, Aliena. They also venture into the Forest of Arden.
Rosalind’s father is also living in the forest, in a sort of laissez-faire bohemian exile alongside his inner circle, picnicking and playing music.
Upon meeting Orlando, Rosalind-as-Ganymede schemes to keep him in her life. Ganymede convinces Orlando that the latter is hopelessly lovesick and must be brought back to rationality. He will pretend to be Orlando’s love, and roleplay rejecting him and accepting him multiple times over. Orlando agrees. Obviously, complications ensue, along with other colourful couples who scurry through the main narrative.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and it’s important to note with this production that the show only represents one half of Creation’s current run: the other half of the company is performing in Treasure Island, running concurrently, which one show as matinee and the other in the evening most days.
James Bradwell as Orlando and Emily Woodward as Rosalind don’t double up on characters - wisely - but portioning 13 roles between the remaining four cast members would challenge any production. It’s impressive how well Creation pulled this off, and kudos go to Anna Tolputt for creating such distinction between her four roles. The only sticking point for me was Clive Duncan portraying Touchstone plus both Dukes. While Duncan’s characterisation of his roles was good, it was hard to differentiate the characters from acting and costume alone and I had to rely on prior knowledge of the plot at times, something that might not be available to all audience members.
Delphine Du Barry’s costume design did a wonderful job of reflecting the themes of the piece. Styled around the 1970s, within the duchy the outfits reflect order, duty and uncompromising orders: sharp tailoring and black and white silhouettes, whereas in the Forest of Arden, design give way to flowing layers and earthy Summer-of-Love colors. Due to the multiple productions element, costumes and props had to work double time, and the set had to be very minimal - a patch of carpet to represent a wrestling mat, a blanket to represent a clearing. While the costumes impressed me in their stylishness and cohesion, I wonder if a bit more could have been done with props to convey the wild lushness of the forest.
As You Like It is a fascinating, profoundly socialist play. Rosalind and Orlando both change their fates through their own cleverness, kindness and bravery rather than their position. Rosalind is Shakespeare’s largest female role, and arguably shows more agency than most of his characters, period. In a rigidly gendered society, posing as a man gives Rosalind the agency to pursue rather than be pursued. That this choice ends in her victory rather than downfall makes the story timelessly feminist and quietly subversive. The commentary on class is as well, shown in the way the forest is a wonderland for the exiled nobles, but a harsh grind for the tithe farmer with little food to spare.
It strikes me as the kind of play that could swing much more comedic or dramatic depending on the levels of intensity and sincerity the director asks the actors to meet. Here, Lucy Pitman-Wallace keeps things light, taking the tone in a screwball, almost sitcom direction.
The actors rose to this challenge easily, bringing an element of physical comedy and clowning, as well as cheeky audience interaction - stealing flapjacks from those in the front row, for example or getting us to clap and sing along to some of the songs interlaced throughout. Newcomer Neil Urghart stole the show, getting major laughs in multiple minor roles and radiating charisma while performing most of the show’s musical accompaniment.
Ailsa Joy, playing Celia and Phebe, meanwhile, had such a radiant, easy enthusiasm it lifted all her scenes. She also had the perfect face for Shakespeare: wildly emotive, you could decode the meaning in the Bard’s floweriest sentences just by watching her expressions.
The Ganymede/Rosalind confusion is played for laughs, and Emily Woodward had a chipper, exasperated delivery style that works well with this, but I would have appreciated if the production slowed just enough to offer more depth to Rosalind, and her two most important relationships: Orlando and Celia.
Rosalind’s ploy to get Orlando to woo ‘Ganymede’ - ostensibly his male peer - has the absurdity of a fan fiction. There needs to be an obvious underlying chemistry between the performers, that compels Orlando to agree to this very dubious scheme. If there isn't, Orlando's easy agreement comes off as a contrived plot device. James Bradwell plays him as a sort of Ken, by way of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer, which is charming and works well for the character, but his interactions with Rosalind never truly convinced me that the two were in love.
Without this blinding chemistry, Rosalind’s actions towards Celia come off as reckless and self-absorbed, and Celia’s distress towards Rosalind’s and Orlando's closeness seems motivated more by Rosalind being a terrible friend than feelings of being replaced.
But it was, I suspect, a trade-off: a pacy crowd pleaser that requires suspension of disbelief at times, or a slower character-piece that risks losing casual (and younger) viewers' interests?
This production chose the former, and I think rightly so: the audience ranged from under seven to over seventy, and all were engaged throughout and left with smiles on their faces.
In this adaptation, the ensemble itself is the focus; the songs, the comedy, the gleeful cheeky atmosphere. Perhaps less moving than a more solemn and subtle production, but great for an uplifting, entertaining Summer evening.