Latest news with #AsYouLikeIt
Axios
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
"As You Like It" on the Common
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's free production of "As You Like It" on Boston Common brings the annual play in the park event back for it's 29th year. The 18-performance run starts next Wednesday through Aug. 10. Why it matters: It's one of Boston's biggest annual arts events, drawing approximately 50,000 attendees to the Parkman Bandstand each summer. Over nearly 30 years, around a million people have seen a Shakespeare play on the Common. Catch up quick: The Bard's romantic comedy sees Duke Senior clash with his power-hungry brother Frederick while his daughter Rosalind and her cousin Celia flee to the forest and encounter Orlando.
Boston Globe
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
One of Shakespeare's most enduring comedies heads to the Common
This is the state of the world at the top of Shakespeare's 'As You Like It' — but the play isn't as bleak as its setting might suggest. In fact, 'As You Like It' is not a tragedy, but a comedy and romance, a story that's ultimately about escaping, rebuilding, and finding community. That theme felt apt, Advertisement 'There's something quite mad about pursuing love in the midst of terrible adversity,' Maler said. 'But why else does one want to live, right?' 'As You Like It' opens with two sets of brothers at war: Orlando's older brother Oliver has schemed him out of his inheritance and is trying to kill him, and Duke Frederick has usurped his older brother Duke Senior and banished him to the Forest of Arden. Under mounting threat at court, Senior's daughter Rosalind too escapes to the forest with her cousin Olivia, with Rosalind disguising herself as a man to keep the two out of danger. Orlando is also in the forest hiding from his brother — and though he and Rosalind met and were instantly attracted to each other at court, he doesn't recognize her in her disguise. In classic Shakespearean fashion, Rosalind takes this as an opportunity to give Orlando man-to-man lessons on how to woo her, revealing her true identity at the play's jubilant end. Advertisement Much of the play's enduring appeal comes from Rosalind, one of Shakespeare's most richly-rendered women (she's sometimes referred to as 'the female Hamlet'). 'She's a vibrant ambassador of the human spirit,' CSC veteran Nora Eschenheimer, who plays Rosalind in the production, said. 'She's smart, she's broken, she's brave, she's terrified — all of the best human traits.' On top of all that complexity, the role of Rosalind also demands some dizzying feats of meta-acting. For much of the play, Rosalind herself is playing her male alter ego, Ganymede. There are several scenes in which Ganymede is role-playing as Rosalind in the courtship lessons with Orlando — so Eschenheimer is playing Rosalind, who's playing Ganymede, who's playing Rosalind (in Shakespeare's time, this would have been even further complicated by the fact that Rosalind, like every female role, would have been played by a man). To Eschenheimer (who herself leads a kind of double life — when she's not acting, she's a lighthouse keeper and boat captain in Rhode Island) exploring all those layers is 'thrilling.' 'What's sort of wild to me is that Rosalind is more in disguise at the top of the play than when she's Ganymede,' she said. Freed from the confines of noblewomanhood, Rosalind is able to be more truthful — and also conveniently gets to instruct her future partner on exactly how she wants to be loved, setting the groundwork for a relationship of equals. Advertisement 'As You Like It''s other well-known calling card is its dual settings, Duke Frederick's authoritarian court and the untamed Forest of Arden (likely inspired by Shakespeare's own personal affinity for the countryside). In Maler's hands, the court is a colorless, Brutalist space of steel and metal with an encroaching edge of decay, peppered with propaganda posters. Even the clothing is restrictive and rigid — in the opening scenes, Rosalind's costume feels, Eschenheimer said, 'like a straitjacket.' Color, like Duke Senior and his allies, has been banished to the forest. When the characters leave their home behind to build a new community in the wild, 'the play just opens up and breathes out into this pastoral wander through the woods, and it's glorious,' Maler says. In the Common, Arden is as splashy and vibrant as a Jean-Jacques Rousseau painting. It's also a found space cobbled together by outcasts ('magpied' together, as Maler said). There, Rosalind gets to ditch her straitjacket for breezier attire. Maler is careful to note that Arden is not paradise — it's cold and difficult to survive, and the characters who dwell in the forest are there because they have no other choice. But those circumstances have an equalizing effect — lords and shepherds alike are forced to mingle and work together, and when the social strata disappear, they're able to create a kind of utopia, where everyone not only survives but is able to find joy and celebration. 'It's a play about binding together, finding people who are equally dedicated to finding a better way forward,' Eschenheimer said. It's a story, she continues, in which no one (except the villains) gives up — the characters in this play unfailingly choose to battle on in the face of tyranny. Advertisement 'What I would like people to take away from this production is that there's hope on the other side,' Eschenheimer said. 'Even in the bleakest of times — we just need to trudge forward.' AS YOU LIKE IT Free, 1 p.m. or 8 p.m., Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common, July 23-Aug. 10,
ITV News
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Back the Bard! Actor Ralph Fiennes alarmed by idea of removing Shakespeare from schools
Don't ask Ray Fiennes to wear a microphone on stage! At least not on the stage we are sitting on right now. We are at the Theatre Royal in Bath, where the renowned actor and director has been given a season of productions to run. We are talking about the growing trend of actors being given microphones on stage - and the impact this has on their projection. He concedes that in some locations, for example huge venues, microphones can be useful, but pointing at the size of the Georgian theatre we are sitting in, it is not he firmly says, necessary. Having been invited to host a season at the Theatre Royal, he now finds himself performing in a new David Hare play, Grace Pervades, in the evening, and then going into intense rehearsals for the next production As You Like It, which he is directing. For this play, he has invited his friend and fellow Shakespearean Dame Harriet Walter to be part of the cast, she will be playing the traditional male role of Jacques, but tells me she hasn't quite decided what gender the character will be. It will be an unusual dynamic for her, being directed by a fellow great, but both are utterly committed to presenting the Bard's work on stage. With a review of the national curriculum in schools and colleges currently underway, they are both alarmed at the suggestions that Shakespeare is no longer relevant to be taught in schools. Fiennes describes the idea as 'stupidity'. His decision to host a season at the Theatre Royal in Bath is an interesting one, given the current crisis that some regional theatres are facing. Both say they have been stating the case for increased funding for the creative sector for decades. Fiennes says he looks at places like France and Spain and sees the level of state support that the cultural industries get there. He is backing the creation of a new theatre in St Albans, which involves renovating a 17th century barn. The idea is to give young up-and-coming talent a chance to get a foothold in the industry. And back to the discussions on the relevance of Shakespeare, the one thing that actors strive to do, is perform Shakespeare on stage. After As You Like It, he will be back on stage for his third production in the season - again a brand-new play, Small Hotel, in which he'll be acting alongside his former partner Francesca Annis. To say that Ralph Fiennes is prolific would seem an understatement right now, with three films out in the last year including 28 Years Later. His season here in Bath finishes in mid October and then be starring in a Hunger Games film prequel, out next year. He is, he admits, a workaholic.
South Wales Argus
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Duke's Theatre Company open-air tour of Macbeth 2025
The UK has a thriving open air theatre scene and, as of 2021, The Duke's Theatre Company has been an ambitious contributor to that. Along with a focus on offering open air theatre, their work has grown to include an exciting range of indoor venues and produce a variety of live theatre. THEIR MISSION 'Our aim is to bring industry leading, accessible productions of some of our greatest Classical works to communities around the UK with energy and ambition, engaging all demographics in our audiences. 'Our production values will be high, and we will strive to work with the best possible standard of creatives, performers and artists' WHAT'S ON The Duke's Theatre Company is no stranger to Shakespeare – their inaugural tour, in 2021, was the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet while they've gone on to perform A Midsummer's Night Dream, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It. New for 2025, the company is bringing Macbeth on a summer (open-air) tour before taking this phenomenal production on its first indoor autumn tour. Macbeth has an impressive cast of talent including Finnbar Hayman as Macbeth and Marilyn Nnadebe as Lady Macbeth. The summer UK tour, which has already seen a show at Chepstow Castle, includes these southeast Wales venues: Caldicot Castle on Wednesday 23 July on Wednesday 23 July Raglan Castle on Friday 8 August With more than 50 UK venues backing this open-air tour there's plenty of opportunities to watch the talented team perform this tragic tale at iconic outdoor locations. Macbeth is two hours long which includes an interval – guests should bring their own blankets or folding chairs. As the production has scenes of war, violence, and death, it's recommended that children attending should be 8 or over. Find out more about the tour - including the full list of dates and venues - and book tickets online via The Duke's Theatre Company's website.
South Wales Argus
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
Caerleon festival, now in its 23rd year
Over the next ten days, highlights include Shakespeare under the stars with a performance of As You Like It at the Amphitheatre, and From Page to Stage, a celebration of novels that inspired musicals, held on Saturday, 5 July, at St Cadoc's Church. On Monday, 7 July, actor Joe Rooney, known for his role as Father Damo, performed A Celebration of Father Ted at St Cadoc's Church, starting at 7:30 pm. Visitors can expect choirs, crafts, lively conversations, great food, drama and creative energy throughout the Roman town. The Caerleon Arts Festival, which runs until Sunday, July 13, is entirely community run and powered by passionate volunteers. Organisers are always eager to hear new ideas and welcome those willing to help out. Chair Tim Davidson said:' Come along and start helping out by having fun.'
