As I Like It

A few weeks ago now I saw As You Like It by the La Boite Theatre Company at The Roundhouse. And it was brilliant. I haven't ever seen a Shakespearean comedy nor have I ever studied one but I was taken with this one.

The story is a quest for love by Rosalind (Helen Howard) who is the daughter of the banished Duke. She is also banished by the new Duke (Hayden Spencer). When she leaves she takes with her her cousin, Celia (Helen Cassidy) and the court's fool, Touchstone (Bryan Probets). In their desperation not to be persecuted, Rosalind disguises herself as a man and they venture into the Forest of Arden to find her father (Kate Wilson). Enter Orlando (Thomas Larkin). He is forced to flee the court after being rejected by his older brother, Oliver (Luke Caddin) and for challenging and defeating the Duke's wrestler (Thomas Carney). After the match and before Rosalind is banished, Rosalind and Orlando fall in love. They are reunited once again in the Forest of Arden but with Rosalind disguised as a man.

The cast was incredible. All actors worked reallly well together and each performance complimented the other and although all performances were superb, Bryan Probets stole the show as the fool, Touchstone. He has crazy manic energy that he brings to the character. At times he delivers his lines at a hundred miles an hour and almost never breaks rhythm. His comic timing is great and his use of the audience and the stage is spell-binding. Helen Howard was brilliant and was the definition of feminity as Rosalind. Her transformation into her disguise as a man is hilarious as she gets herself into all sorts of situations. And Thomas Larkin is not just good to look at but he is also a stunning performer. His character's mad determination to defeat his brother is almost completely forgotten by his love of Rosalindand Larkin handles the journey very well. I very much look forward to seeing Larkin in Romeo and Juliet later this year with the Queensland Theatre Company. One of the student interns, Alec Snow, was fantastic and his appearance as the God of Marriage at the end of the play is truely dazzling. Helen Cassidy also gave a fantastic performance as Celia.

Bryan Probets as Touchstone

The choreography of the wrestling match, by Justin Palazzo-Orr, was enthralling and really intense to watch. At some points the audience was nearly knocked out of their seats, literally. This raw testosterone fuelled scene showed off the physicality of the both Larkin and Carney.

Thomas Larkin (Orlando) and Thomas Carney (Charles)

Director, David Berthold, created a great but minimal set. It is dark, ominous and dull when in the castle and then, pulling on the Woodford Folk Festival for inspiration, made the set of the Forest of Arden a magical and mystical place. I swear they pumped up the air conditioning to make it colder when it was night (it may have been because I didn't have a cardigan or jacket but I don't think so) so that you were drawn to the fire that they lit in the middle of the set and into the characters that were settled around the fire. At no point was an actor awkwardly positioned so that he had his back to the audience beacuse the audience was all around and you were always in the thick of it. It was theatre like Shakespeare intended it. The actors broke through the parameters of the normal stage as they hid at the audiences feet, threw pieces of paper professing love for Rosalind across the seats and incite the crowd to participate.
Their use of song was very good too. One of the student interns had an amazing voice and the use of the live guitar also created that more intimate feel.

This is such an uplifting and warm production that has you in stitches. You can't help leaving feeling enlightened and dancing along to the music. And this gender-bending comedy reminds us that Love is a many gendered thing.