Ned Rudkins-Stow, Katherine Jack and Chanelle Modi in As You Like It at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
As You Like It continues at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor until 24 July 2021.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
It is often still disputed that Shakespeare is timeless, universal and employs complexities of themes that are still relevant today. Is his writing of a certain time and place or is it multi-faceted and layered so that it is always relatable no matter what life throws at us in whichever decade or century his plays are performed?
Director Paul Hart and dramaturg Yolanda Mercy debate the latter argument using the development of the characters in As You Like It to influence a BAME and LGBTQ+ inspired finale, while likening the Ducal banishments in the Forest of Arden to a Covid lockdown – thus enabling the characters to realise the true meaning of nature, life and friendship.
The outdoor setting also plays its part in the Watermill’s Theatre integration of sustainability into its productions with the aim of minimising environmental impact and the set design by Katie Lias is a perfect example of reducing, re-using and recycling.
It is all put together with very honest intentions but in reality the themes of diversity, inclusion, equality and sustainability are not thread equally throughout the production leaving Act I with a distinct lack of purpose.
The formality of the Duke’s court in Act I, shown in the prototypical interpretation of white-collar and blue-collar workers through formal business attire and labourers with hi-vis jackets, changes in Act II to a more grungy, casual, camouflage style. It is another astute way of connecting with Covid and the change from office to home working. However, to carry these themes in a meaningful way throughout the whole production the adaptation requires more meticulous work to make these important messages more visible throughout.
The award for consistency in performance goes to Emma Barclay’s endearing Touchstone and Ned Rudkins-Stow as the passionate and youthful Orlando while Chanelle Modi gives a genuinely credible performance as Celia and Ami Okumura-Jones is prim and proper as Le Beau and hilariously coquettish as Phebe.
With the intention of creating a folk-inspired immersive soundscape, songs including those of Taylor Swift, Mumford & Sons, Ronan Keating and The Beach Boys are thread through the play, tenuously giving this production its musical theatre genre.
Julie Watterston
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