As You Like It

Another visit to the RSC, this time to see As You Like It. Given the non traditional slants put on a few we’ve seen recently I was apprehensive ( it’s had mixed press reviews ) .
It was an age blind casting and the actors were all 70+ … but in fact it was excellent. The themes of giddy love, banishment and parental disapproval seemed to work as long as you ignored the lack of age differences between the parent/ offspring actors.
Geraldine James (her of Jewel in the Crown fame) played Rosalind and was wonderful but the rest of the cast were also very good - great stamina for a nightly 3 hour performance and the harsh set ( above) worked, ( playing on the idea of a cast reforming after 45 years to revisit an earlier production. ) The Forest of Arden is revealed right at the end as the ghostly finale…
Certainly an interesting idea and the younger members of the audience seemed just as engaged as us oldies!