As You Like It: a ‘good-natured comedic romp’
Actors in their 60s, 70s and 80s unite in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s ‘poignant’ production

For his RSC debut, Omar Elerian has presented “As You Like It” conventionally, as a “good-natured comedic romp packed with laughter”, said Diane Parkes on What’s on Stage. There is a twist, however: all of the main parts are played by actors in their 60s, 70s and 80s – which guarantees exemplary verse-speaking.
Yet this isn’t age-blind casting, in which the actors’ age goes unacknowledged. A very funny Touchstone (James Hayes) explains that the surviving actors from a production staged in the 1970s have reunited to recreate it. This framing device brings added poignancy to the play – and comedy too, derived from the mismatch between the “lusty youths” of the text and the performers’ advanced years, as well as members of the cast wincing in fear of injury during creaky fight scenes, affecting problems remembering their lines and so on.
The production’s conceit “takes its time to beguile, and push past a sense of conceptual strain”, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. Newcomers to the play might also find it confusing. “But interpretation and emotion do stealthily intertwine – the company’s vulnerability chiming with the self-exposing nature of love.” Having older leads brings an “unhurried tenderness to the love that blossoms between the various couples”, said Dave Fargnoli in The Stage – while making “the jealousies and dynastic rivalries that drive much of the plot feel especially bitter”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Certainly, this is the “best-spoken Shakespeare I have heard for ages”, said Susannah Clapp in The Observer: “unfussy, confident, using the rhythm to spring new inflections”. Among a first-rate cast, Hayes’s “freely ad-libbing” Touchstone is a triumph. At times his riffs verge on “mini stand-up routines”, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. What is never played for laughs, however, is the central romance between Rosalind and Orlando. Geraldine James, making her RSC debut at 72, captures all the “innocent excitement of first love”, while Malcolm Sinclair’s Orlando is “full of charmingly comic tics but earnest in his love” – and “utterly lovable”.
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (01789-331111; rsc.org ). Until 5 August. Rating ****
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?
The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate branding
In the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid: 'more than just a novelty'
The Week Recommends Europe's first plug-in hybrid pickup is 'surprisingly agile'
-
6 lush homes in the trees
Feature Featuring a glass house in Texas and a home built for a Broncos quarterback in Colorado
-
Brooklyn vs. the Beckhams: trouble in paradise
In the Spotlight Scion of the Beckham clan and billionaire heiress wife Nicola Peltz staged an elaborate vow renewal – and none of his family were on the guest list
-
Alien: Earth – a 'bold' prequel to the space horror classic
The Week Recommends Set two years before Alien, new Disney show pays 'homage' to the original
-
Music reviews: Ethel Cain, Amaarae, and The Black Keys
Feature "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You," "Black Star," and "No Rain, No Flowers"
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'
Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War II
Feature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more