Review: As You Like It, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold

Feb 15 2012 By Steve Stratford

Review: As You Like It by William Shakespeare, at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold

AS YOU Like It is a very silly play. I have to confess that, despite being well into my thirties, this was the first time I'd seen a traditional performance of a Shakespeare play. Ever.

And just to turn your horrified gasps into full-on expirations of terror, I have never read any Shakespeare either. Not even at school (it was a standard comprehensive, I promise you, but my teacher seemed more interested in Robert Frost and Bernard MacLaverty). So I didn't come to As You Like It with many expectations other than the deep-seated fear I wouldn't understand a word of what was going on.

I reassured myself that I had managed to follow the gist of recent productions of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II and Doctor Faustus in Manchester. But aside from the fact that, indeed, I could not follow what was going on, I was also pretty unimpressed with what I could grasp. None of my disappointment or bemusement is a reflection on the Clwyd Theatr Cymru production itself, but rather the source material. I just didn't think it was very good.

The story is pretty slight, principally consisting of an over-rehearsed shirtless wrestling match, an unrequited love story, then a requited love story. And somewhere in the middle there's some merry harmonising in the forest and a moving contemplation on the seven ages of Man. Surrounded by people in the audience guffawing and chortling over jokes I'd obviously missed, I began to think of the play as the 16th century equivalent of a Carry On film.

I know it's supposed to be a comedy, but most of this seems to consist of finding amusement in social stereotypes - snigger at the camp, prancing courtier Le Beau, and split your sides at the interminable physical comedy of the obese fool Touchstone. Researching the play, I note that I'm not alone in being left nonplussed by As You Like It.

Samuel Johnson and George Bernard Shaw both expressed disapproval, while I concur with Tolstoy's condemnation of Touchstone's incessant clowning. It's hard to believe this was from the hand of Britain's supposedly greatest playwright. On the plus side, what the performers do with the play is unquestionably superior. Hedydd Dylan makes for a delightful Rosalind, while Philip Bretherton oozes presence as the imposing Jaques.

But if you're attracted to the play because Torchwood star Kai Owen is in it, don't have too high expectations. Following his topless wrestling with the handsome Alex Felton (Orlando) in the first 15 minutes, he has very little to do, and virtually nothing to say. If you like As You Like It, I think you'll like this.

But if you're new to Shakespeare, I don't think this is the best stepping on point, because the story just isn't all that engaging, and is ill-thought out. Why does soppy Orlando not recognise his girlfriend just because she is wearing men's clothes? Do Rosalind's doublet and hose possess the powers of Batman's cape and mask in diverting people's attention away from their wearer's true identity? And why does Rosalind string out her disguise so long, when she could probably end the play much earlier by whipping off her cap and embracing her mooning beau immediately?

All in all, this is a good production of a poor play. All the world's a stage, indeed, but these men and women are merely players in a disappointing story.

As You Like It is performed at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold, until March 10, 2012.