Premiere New York Premiere
Production Language English
Country of Origin England, United Kingdom
Description For nearly half a century his name has been synonymous with British theater. This spring, legendary director Sir Peter Hall (Tony Award-winner for the original Amadeus) makes his BAM debut with a debut of his own: his first staging of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Starring his daughter Rebecca as a poignant and quick-witted Rosalind, this is an As You Like It that delivers comedic verve along with a healthy dose of skepticism. All is not necessarily idyllic in Hall’s Forest of Arden—a sharp-eyed approach that renders the play’s take on love all the more potent.
Having festooned the forest’s trees with sweet missives, the lovelorn Orlando professes his affection for Rosalind to Ganymede—whom he thinks is a young man, but who really is the object of his passion in male disguise. Here, this amusing moment of confusion has a wistful gloss. There’s a palpable and convincing sorrow in Rosalind’s inability to reveal her identity and return Orlando’s love.In Sir Peter’s hands, complex readings like this come off as effortless, illuminating the comedy’s underlying melancholy as it exalts in the gorgeous language of one of Shakespeare’s most romantic works.
Identifier 2005s.00804
