As You Like It (Globe Theatre)

Written on the cusp on the 17th century, As You Like It is Shakespeare's great 'pastoral' play. Since then, many people have, of course, argued about the level of 'greatness' often imposed upon the drama, but it has always been popular with audiences and has had at least two serviceable filmed adaptations made.

Here though, we are in Shakespeare's home territory as it were, albeit the impressive reconstruction of the Globe Theatre on London's Southbank.

The theatre is, as you would expect, in the round, and in the open. The weather last October seems to have been rather chilly with precipitation having fallen fairly recently, and  more to come no doubt, however the warmth generated by the sheer vigour and skill of the actors involved would have distracted much of the audience from fears of imminent hypothermia.

Thea Sharrock has created a very 'raw' theatrical experience, but this is to be expected without a huge fly-tower and electronic wizardry you may expect from shows such as 'Wicked' or 'Love Never Dies'. As some other Shakesperian character said, 'The play's the thing!' and our imaginations are invited to let themselves free, with the most impressive effects being the transformation of the stage into the Forest of Arden and the painfully realistic fight scenes.


The plot itself is so contrived, it's actually rather laughable, however Sharrock's production tries hard to explain many of the apparent inconsistencies, and where it can't, we just have an enormous amount of fun anyway.

Much of this fun comes from Dominic Rowan's 'intelligent fool' in the shape of Touchstone. His jokes, which would fall flat with many other actors, hit home most of the time, and this is mostly to do with his genuine comic presence. He adds one or two little 'ad libs', and all is understood by the contemporary audience.


Jack Laskey (Orlando) and Naomi Frederick (Rosalind/Ganymede) are certainly a match for each other, yet there's a convincing argument to be made for Orlando being a bit of a wimp when it comes to the art of love when he really is taught more than he thinks he knows by this 'chap' Ganymede.



Laura Rogers' 'Celia / Aliena' is certainly not an underdog in any way, and her comic timing is great to see in a role which is often overshadowed by Rosalind and it's easy to see why Oliver would fall for her straight away, in this production at least.

The great speech, "All the world's a stage.." is delivered by Jacques, one of the most morose characters in literature. Tim McMullan revels in the misery, and his booming baritone voice is great for this particular space. The aforementioned speech, continuing as it does on "The seven ages of man" has a great measured pace to it in McMullan's hands. Jacques' morbid cynicism is tangible.


Overall, this is an example of ensemble-playing at its very best. Actors frequently play more than one role with Peter Gale lending his very musical voice to both the opening coronation scene, and to Amiens, who sings the play's songs. These could well be rather cheesy and embarrassing offerings, but with Stephen Warbeck's simple melodies and Gale's terrific delivery they are raised above the usual 'hey nonny no' trivialities.

Speaking of the music, great store is given to the incidental music emanating from the musician's gallery, where they are all dressed appropriately, and play (mostly) authentic-sounding instruments and entertain the crowd just as they would have done 500 or so years ago.


Sound and picture quality is as good as you can get in what is basically an open-air theatre. The voices are picked up well wherever they are on stage and any extraneous noises from the big city beyond (and the skies above) have either been cleverly removed, or everyone was just very lucky on the two recording days.

Extras are a bit peculiar, in that we have a list of the 'famous speeches' which may be accessed via a menu system, and so really consist of "You've seen the play, now here's your chance to see a lot of it again in bleeding chunks". I would have much preferred some 'backstage' action.as it were.


If there's anything to complain about, it is the audience itself. The fidgeting and general lack of attention is highly noticeable with almost every camera angle and it takes a while to begin to concentrate on the play itself (something some obviously non-English speaking school children have trouble doing stuck in the corner of the 'pit').

Having said this, watching this DVD has made me want to see something live in the Globe myself at some point, and the fact that the theatre was full of a (mostly) appreciative audience speaks volumes for the absolute necessity of keeping this form of live entertainment going, despite the growing economic crisis.