At last, the sun is coming out to play, and the Mansfield Players’ staging of As You Like It has given this summer’s outdoor theatre season a merry welcome. The performance is so contagiously high-spirited that, in keeping with this play’s signature ‘All the world’s a stage’ speech, every creature is inclined to participate. A cat attempts to steal the show by strolling mischievously around the musicians, a chorus of birds chimes in with their evensong, and a separate staging of The Princess Bride at the nearby Wadham is happy to contribute its chaotic brawl noises. It is a collaborative affair.
As the spectators arrive, the cast seems already to be in character. The group bursts into the traditional ‘I love the flowers’ song while EP Siegel, playing the cynical Jaques, pretends to read Nietzsche’s The Joyful Wisdom: an apt allusion, and an amusing way to set the scene. Mansfield’s garden makes for a lovely Forest of Arden, transcending the stuffy indoors and emulating the ceilingless Globe Theatre, where this Shakespeare play is believed to have been first performed to the public. The play is deliberately self-aware; there is something quaint about how the exaggeratedly French Duke Senior (Josephine Bernier) introduces the ‘players’ and declares out loud that they will now begin with Act 1, Scene 1.
The harmony between the play’s heroines, Rosalind (Elizabeth Hamilton) and Celia (Emily Polhill), is a pleasure to witness – they are synchronised in their laughter and their tears, and both comically faint at various points in the play. Ben Gilchrist plays a convincing youngest brother in his role as Orlando, unrivaled in his ability to conjure up a youthful blush at the sight of his character’s crush. Arthur Bellamy entertains as Touchstone, simultaneously impersonating a pretentious intellectual and Shakespearean fool, and his bright blond hair enlivens an already vibrant costume.
EP Siegel is not just Jaques, but seems to play a second director within the play: this production adds a playful moment to Shakespeare’s original, where Jaques utters a frantic ‘fuck!’ and implores a front-seat spectator to fill in for a seemingly missing actor. Siegel captures the essence of Jaques’ boisterous melancholia and executes an impressive performance of the ‘Seven Ages of Man’ speech, slowly amplifying the tension and spiraling into an explosive existential crisis. This Jaques is a character who makes use of liminal spaces, watching from the aisle, in cahoots with the audience as the action unfolds. The fourth wall wanes, leaving us uncertain: have we been lured into the spectacle, or has the play stepped out into the real world?
The director (Tom Onslow) double-casts characters masterfully to enhance the comedy: Dami Adedoyin-Adeniyi is both Charles, the fiery wrestler, and Audrey, elegant ‘country wench’. Alex Lauff, clothed in black, plays the malignant character of Duke Frederick, but dons a pink floral shirt to embody William, a ‘country fellow’ who woos Audrey. When Rosalind, Celia and Touchstone traverse perilous obstacles to reach the Forest of Arden, our Duke (Alex Lauff) nobly takes on the role of a tree obstructing their path.
Phoebe (Rav Sagoo) and Silvius (Isabella Savin) are endearing comedians, and Lauren Mlicko’s whimsical singing is a jovial ornament to the play. Zoë Shah’s leafy costume designs breathe life into this pastoral fairytale. This performance feels no need to drastically renovate Shakespeare’s classic, as many modern adaptations do, but perhaps this is precisely what makes it so timelessly familiar.
As the night gets colder, the audience snuggles up with fluffy blankets, delighted by this cosy comedy, a comfort from the sorrows of the day. With four couples happily married and a powerful epilogue delivered by Rosalind, the play comes to an end. From this day forth, I vow to be an honest reviewer, to critique unflatteringly if I must – but as it turns out, I do like it.
