Written by William
Shakespeare
Directed by Peter
Evans
Bell Shakespeare
production
The Playhouse,
Canberra Theatre Centre
April 8 – 18, 2015
Review by Len Power 8 April 2015
While my past reading has given me a familiarity with ‘As
You Like It’, somehow I’ve never managed to see it staged before. After experiencing Bell Shakespeare’s
production this week, I’m not surprised it’s considered one of Shakepeare’s
most popular works.
In the play, a young woman, Rosalind flees persecution in
her uncle’s court with her cousin, Celia, to the forest of Arden. There they interact with a variety of
interesting characters and find love by the end of the play.
Director, Peter Evans, said in a speech after the
performance, ‘If you don’t have a Rosalind, you don’t have a show’. Luckily, he has the wonderful Zahra Newman
playing the huge role of Rosalind. She
gives a magnetic performance throughout which crackles with energy and humour
and she simply commands the stage with her delivery of the Epilogue speech at
the end of the play.
John Bell as the melancholy traveller, Jacques, gives a
quietly understated performance which works brilliantly. He doesn’t make a big deal of his delivery of
the famous ‘All The World’s A Stage’ speech and that makes it especially
memorable.
There is uniformly excellent work from the rest of the
ensemble cast. All display a great sense
of comic timing and there is also some fine singing by Abi Tucker playing the
roles of Audrey and Amiens. Actually the
whole cast are pretty good singers as you’ll see with their spot-on harmony
singing in a song late in the show.
Kelly Ryall, the composer and musical director, has done a fine job
giving the text of the songs a modern treatment that works.
The set for the show is a marvel. Designed by Michael Hankin, at the start of
the show we seem to be on a rather bare stage in a theatre with just a working
light. How that set is transformed into
the forest of Arden later in the play is remarkably clever. It’s this kind of theatrical effect that
movies and television can never compete with.
Paul Jackson’s lighting complements the set nicely and his subtle
changes at various points in the play create a really special atmosphere for
this show. Costumes by Kate Aubrey-Dunn
are a delightful mix of periods and styles that go well with the various
characters.
Peter Evans has produced a very attractive and entertaining
production. If you’re not familiar with
the play, it can be a bit bewildering when actors appear as other characters
but you soon work it out and find yourself swept along by the energy and
inventiveness of this show. Go and join
in the fun in the forest of Arden with this company and you won’t want to
leave!
Originally broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ showbiz program
with Bill Stephens on Sunday 12 April 2015 from 5pm.