"Shakespeare has plenty to say about love and women in his pastoral comedy As You Like It, and it is still laugh out loud funny after just over 400 years.
Presented in association with Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, the production takes place in the lovely setting of Ludlow Castle. The opening night saw music and merriment aplenty as we were transported back to the Swinging Sixties.
Its two big stars are John Challis (Only Fools and Horses) and Eric Potts (Coronation Street). Challis, as the melancholy Jacques, was a class act whose quiet presence and perfectly weighted delivery of lines were an acting masterclass. Likewise Potts, playing a very different character in the fool Touchstone, was perfectly cast and drew the eye whenever he was on stage.
All the acting from an impressively strong cast was first rate, with a pleasing chemistry between the love-struck Orlando (Tom Radford) and Rosalind (Georgina White), the latter excellent when her character was pretending to be a man. Jennifer Greenwood as Celia also lit up the stage.
This production is set amid the cultural wars of the late 60s, with the Cold War paranoia of the usurping duke constrasting with the hippy camp of the court in exile. Adding to the 60s vibe were the superb musicians, who not only played a part in the action but got us in the mood with songs before each half – The Times They Are A-Changing, Universal Soldier and so on.
A forerunner to the modern rom-com, As You Like It of course has a contrived and obvious happy ending that sees four couples married and everyone restored to their lands and fortunes. On a pleasantly mild and dry evening in Ludlow, the audience also went away smiling."
As You Like It returns to Stafford Castle from Sunday 29th June - Saturday 12th July.
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