SHAKESPEARE’S blueprint doom-scroller, a character who has won the name of “melancholy” Jacques over the centuries, is getting a new look and a blindingly incisive interpretation at Bath Theatre Royal this summer. Harriet Walter, no stranger to gender-blind casting, proves again how potent it can be with her interpretation of the Seven Ages of Man speech, bringing a relatable revelation to every line.
Actor Ralph Fiennes, asked to curate a summer season at Bath’s beautiful Theatre Royal, chose As You Like It for the season’s Shakespeare and his directing debut, and surrounding himself with a powerful and predominantly young cast and an inspired creative team, has made a production that does full justice to the original at the same time as providing a modern, incisive reading fit for all generations.
There are moments in As You Like It that challenge even the most avid supporter of the suspension of disbelief called for in the theatre, the main among them not only the bizarre transformation of Orlando’s horrible brother Oliver but also his being attacked by a deadly snake and then a lion, all in the Forest of Arden … but let that pass.
Into this sylvan setting hurtle Gloria Obianyo’s spirited, determined, puzzled and lovestruck Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) with her cousin, the gutsy, funny Celia (Amber James) and their chum, court clown Touchstone, cleverly interpreted by Irish comedian Dylan Moran. They are quickly followed by the passionate Orlando (Charlie Rowe), recently thrown out by his jealous older brother, newly in love with Rosalind and helping his aged servant Adam (Paul Jesson) to cope with hunger and exhaustion.
In the forest are the banished duke and his men, ready to welcome the newcomers and watch as they play out their love games, hunting and gathering their food and singing songs round the fire in the traditional way.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the first spontaneous laughs of this production come from Orlando talking to the faithful Adam “ … the constant service of the antique world, when service sweat for duty, not for reward. Thou art not for the fashion of these times, where none will sweat but for promotion.”
Following in Ralph Koltai’s footsteps from the unforgettable National Theatre 1967 all-male production, designer Bob Crowley has created a set hung about with trees and love poems, cleverly adaptable by video projection from corrupt court to wrestling ground to forest glade. Colours and light create the dappled glimmer of an ever-changing woodland.
It’s a delightful, keenly nuanced production, full of romance and excitement, and running until 6th September.
GP-W
Photographs by Marc Brenner