Watching "As You Like It" live performance:

To help support my own understanding of my role and the play as a whole and to develop my sense and awareness of how Shakespeare can be performed, I went to see “As You Like It” performed at the Central School Of Speech and Drama. I felt the roles, concept and style were played engagingly and with flair and it was particularly amusing to watch characters, such as Orlando in particular, to interact with Rosalind impersonating Ganymede with Celia looking on with a mix of disapproval and excitement. I think Celia was cleverly portrayed as a loving and close friend to Rosalind yet quite jealous of Orlando’s attention being focused on her, however for this production Celia’s jealous side is not being played to the same strong extent it was in Central’s production.

Cebtral’s concept mainly consisted of that of a modern world, such as the wrestling taking place to modern rock music and Celia beginning in a modern and flashy dress before entering the Forest of Arden. However, later on in the piece the modern style of the piece became far less prominent as they entered the Forest of Arden in which their characteristics and clothes adapted to the wild and natural nature of the forest. I felt this was a good balance as it was not modern but not to the extent where character’s had i-pads but was neither fully traditional at the other end of the scale. In doing so, the production felt more relatable without trying too hard to engage the audience as a modern play which it is not, yet didn’t appear archaic and outdated either which is how some Shakespeare productions I have seen have felt.

I felt this was effective and highlighted how universal the storyline is as its themes, although being written and originally performed a very long time ago, are strong and prominent features in comedy and scriptwriting today. The contemporary piece conveyed a strong sense of comedy but remained truthful and the actors did not purely play the surface comedy of the roles as the style of the production involved both humour and eye-opening moments for the audience, which I think was balanced well. One part which I was particularly absorbed by was when Jacques said his “all the worlds a stage” speech and all the lights appeared in the auditorium bringing the audience to light very unexpectedly. I feel this really went beyond the surface message of the thought-provoking speech as I fully realise the meaning of his and Shakespeare’s words for the first time and what he means by “all the worlds a stage” which was the highlight of the performance for me.