Fighting for love: Centre Joe Bannister (Orlando) and Leon Annor (Charles). Photo credit Johan Persson
Theatre: Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
Play: As You Like It
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Director: Polly Findlay
Review by Esha Chaman
William Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy is transported to the digital age in Polly Findlay’s contemporary adaptation, where banishment, sibling rivalry, love and romantic complications drive the cast to take refuge in the Forest of…Furniture.
Returning to the National Theatre for the first time since 1979, As You Like It ditches the Elizabethan costumes and moustaches for trendy garb. A 21st century office replaces the traditional palace where Duke Ferdinand (John Ramm) has been banished by his usurping brother, Duke Frederick (Leo Wringer).
With strict security and a robotic workforce buzzing around the palace like Pac-Man minions, Duke Ferdinand is forced to leave his daughter Rosalind (Rosalie Craig) behind with only her loving cousin Celia (Patsy Ferran) as a companion, while he takes refuge in the Forest of Arden.
Sibling rivalry also corrupts the relationship between Orlando (Joe Bannister) and his cunning older brother Oliver (Philip Arditti) who has deprived Orlando of his inheritance by reducing him to a life blighted by poverty.
Orlando goes to court to fight (literally) for his share of his inheritance by participating in a wrestling match against the court wrestler Charles (Leon Annor). But a moment of love at first sight strikes Orlando as he becomes besotted with “fair” Rosalind, who is equally smitten.
After hearing that his father and the Duke Frederick were enemies, Orlando decides to flee for his safety to the Forest of Arden. Duke Frederick’s tyranny also plagues the fortunes of Rosalind, as he decides to exile her from the court, fearing she could threaten his right to rule. As a result, Celia defiantly chooses to accompany her. They too head for the Forest of Arden and adopt disguises to protect themselves: Rosalind as a man called Ganymede, and Celia as his younger sister Ariana.
As the drama shifts to the forest, a dramatic metamorphosis unfolds on stage as the maze of office desks are hoisted into the air, becoming a knotty, metallic tangle, dangling like soulless trees. In the eerie, grey depths of the wintery woodland, lovesick Orlando comes across Rosalind disguised as Ganymede who offers to counsel him on how to express his love for her.
With other couples bickering away and chasing each other through the forest, love triangles form with arguments over who should marry whom until Ganymede steps in to get everyone a happy ending.
Polly Findlay’s take on Shakespeare’s most revered “green world” comedy certainly lacks a verdant vision, apart from the green post-it notes which hang from the avant-garde forest, and the mini bonsai trees before they are flung off the desks. Yet the contemporary vision of the bard’s forest as a magnificent spiral of hanging furniture, transformed from a mundane corporate office, is an ingenious touch and a jaw-dropping highlight.
By setting the first act in a corporate environment, Findlay shows the play’s relevance to the present day. The characters desire to escape Elizabethan urban life to bask in the pastoral embrace of the forest is something today’s inner-city workers can relate as they itch to get away from the daily grind.
A capella is beautifully performed by Fra Free, which adds a richness lacking elsewhere in the production. The use of sound effects helps to bring the forest alive with a creepy atmosphere emphasised by the odd howl of distant wolves and the sudden squawking of crows.
Unfortunately Lizzie Clachan’s innovative set design outshines the performances, but there are some comedic highlights. One is the entire cast kitted out in woolly jumpers baaing away on all fours as the shepherd’s flock. Another is Leon Annor as Charles throwing punches with Orlando in a colourful Lucha Libre wrestling outfit.
Joe Bannister performs an endearing Orlando and Rosalie Craig is witty as one of Shakespeare’s most loved heroines, Rosalind. But the chemistry between the two on stage falls flat at times and is overshadowed by the wonderful sense of sisterhood between Rosalind and Patsy Ferran’s charmingly sweet Celia.
Visually, As You Like It is captivating, but lacklustre performances lets the production down.
As You Like It is at the National Theatre until 5 March 2016.