Part One
Focus
This performance of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It will act as a commentary on the rising statistics of homelessness on the streets of London and reflect the British government’s antipathy toward their homeless population. Over the last year, homelessness in the United Kingdom has raised ten percent, and since 2010, the numbers of recorded homeless individuals has more than doubled (Crisis). Although the government and local charities are working toward decreasing these numbers in future years, these numbers are projected to continue increasing until the government offers realistic, affordable housing options (Crisis).
Script
This production will employ the entire script as Shakespeare originally wrote it. Furthermore, this production will not insert materials from other Shakespearean works, as the Drury Lane recovery in 1740 precedents (Bevington). Neither will the production be accompanied by imported musical compositions as became typical until the early nineteenth century (Bevington). Instead, this production will highlight the relationship between spoken and known by focusing on dialogue and silence.
In sections of the play that call for singing, the actor will instead perform his lines as a performance art piece to further explore the relationship between spoken and silence.
Character Dynamics
Early performances of As You Like It featured a completely caucasian, all-male cast where boys played female roles, and men played the male roles (Bevington). This tradition remained precedent until the eighteenth century when Charles Johnson cast Hannah Pritchard as Rosalind in his adaptation, Love in a Forest (Bevington). However, even with the progression regarding gender, castings continued to be primarily white. The character of Rosalind, with a female actor playing her, became traditionally cast to embody Victorian femininity which poses unobtainable classical ideals (Bevington). Not until Gregory Thompson’s 2003 production was a black female actor cast for the role of Rosalind (Bevington). The century before Thompson’s production set precedent for his decision as other adaptions had begun to cast with similar progression with regards to other primary characters, including— in numerous productions— Orlando (Bevington).
This performance will not reflect the historical preference for a white-only cast.. Instead, race will not be a consideration other than to suggest the relationships between characters. For example, the production will cast Duke Senior and Rosalind to reflect their relationship as father and daughter. Furthermore, this production will not cast characters, especially female characters, to embody traditional beauty standards. The only specifications the production will consider for castings are consideration of the script’s characterization of the roles. Meaning, only lines such as when Rosalind reflects, “I am more than common tall,” will be taken into consideration throughout the casting process (Shakespeare 50).
Setting
Set in modern London, this production will suggest the work’s relevance to the modern audience. This decision is inspired by Clifford William’s 1967 and David Jone’s Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1967-1968 modernized productions which approached timeless themes of gender identity through character relationships (Bevington). This production will instead utilize the modern setting to recognize the theme that the human experience is malleable by addressing the impermanence of the characters’ homes and statuses. Through costuming and staging this theme will be approached.
Costuming
The costuming will seek to identify two statuses: those with authority and those removed from power. Those who maintain their authority— including Oliver, Charles, and Duke Frederick—will wear the same costume throughout the entire production. Similarly, those who remain removed from power— including Duke Senior, Jacques, Lord Amiens, Silvius, and Corin— will dress in the same costumes throughout the production. Characters who begin in a position of power, but lose this power as the plot develops, will undergo a costume change to reflect their prevailing status. These characters will begin the production costumed to exhibit said power and will switch costumes once banished into the fashion of the other. These characters include Rosalind, Celia, Touchstone, Adam, and Orlando.
This production will distinguish characters in power by their modern upper-class costumes. In solid colors, the male characters will dress in button-up shirts, with or without ties, slacks, and dress shoes. These articles of clothing will be ironed and will match one another. Similarly, their female counterparts will wear minimalist dresses with matching simple heels. Moreover, they will have their makeup done and their hair neatly up. These characters will appear clean and will carry luxury status symbols on their persons, such as watches, bracelets, briefcases, and the like.
In contrast, characters removed from power will be costumed in ill-fitting street clothes. Both genders will wear tee-shirts, windbreakers, jeans, and tennis shoes. These articles of clothing will not match and may be torn or missing from the individual. The characters will wear makeup that mimics dirt with their hair undone and unclean. Accessories will not be worn to suggest their previous status. Only in the final scene, will an exception to this costuming be made for the four women: Rosalind, Celia, Phoebe, and Audrey. At their wedding, they will wear dirt-covered, white dresses which are ill-fit. The women’s excitement will be suggested through the messy efforts to pull their hair back, despite the dirt on their being remaining.
Staging
Although there are two primary settings, a majority of As You Like It occurs in the Forest of Arden. Because of this, the forest staging traditionally receives more creative attention. Traditionally, past productions featured elaborate, hyper-realist stagings. For example, Oscar Asch’s early 20th-century production imported potted ferns each week to simulate a real, living forest (Bevington). Furthermore, the sets produced to appease these two settings are often difficult to move and are designed to evolve quickly between the court and forest settings.
This production seeks to demonstrate the active neglect that the government displays toward those they serve. Through a visual analogy, the stage will be divided horizontally by a non-evolving set piece into two parts: above and below. These two separate sets will share the mise-en-scene equally, and at all times. The set piece will thus maintain a visual of one group, one place hanging physically over their counterpart.
The upper structure will resemble a governmental housing department. The room will be covered with rich colored paint and accented with elaborate Victorian furniture to suggest wealth and recognize the traditions of past performances. Toward the left mise-en-scene will be a massive wooden desk; two chairs around it, one behind it. The front of the desk will display the Royal coat of arms. Other furnishings made of wood will balance the space and satisfy the mise-en-scene’s expensive aesthetic. A British flag will hang in the corner of the office, near the desk. Recognizable photographs of English figureheads will fill one of the walls. A realistic painting of a wall-sized window overlooking Parliament will cover the adjacent wall. This portrayal of Parliament will be foggy and damp to set the atmosphere before the first line delivers. A door sits opposite the desk. Through the door, offstage is a staircase in and out of the upper set.
In juxtaposition, the lower set will resemble an empty warehouse that serves as an unofficial homeless camp. The set itself will be mostly bare. Dark concrete walls will visually trap the characters within the setting. Wooden support beams throughout the space will represent an abstracted Forest of Arden. The support beams match the finish of the wooden furniture above, establishing a visual relationship between the two sets. Several camping tents in similar colors to the above set will balance the mise-en-scene by relating color theory and scale. The tents will act as the modern equivalent to the cottage with the pasture and the surrounding caves. Colorful garbage and tools scattered along the floor will suggest a sense of permanence in this arrangement.
Key Scenes
The key scenes reflect the play’s comedic genre, including the fulfillment of the expectation that the plot ends in marriage. Together, these scenes present a unified storyline and were selected because they could stand alone through their implications of the important details in the surrounding scenes. In other words, these scenes represent a stripped version of the play's plot.
Furthermore, in regards to the vision of the production, these scenes exhibit the theme that the human experience is malleable. Meaning, the selected scenes feature the primary characters’ transitions from their posh courtier lifestyles to simpler ones in the Forest of Arden. Visually, these scenes draw attention to the plot’s downward motion through the split set as the weight of the mise-en-scene begins in the upper set, but shifts downward as characters are banished from court.
This production will highlight the following scenes:
- Act I, scene ii: The Wrestling Match
- proposes the comedic genre and establishes the storyline: Orlando and Rosalind have fallen in love, have not told the other, but each hopes to marry the other
- offers a goal to both Orlando and Rosalind: marriage
- suggests Celia’s faithfulness to her cousin Rosalind
- reveals the secondary storyline consequent of Duke Senior’s unjustified banishment from power
- introduces Rosalind’s and the court’s connection to Duke Senior
- Act I, scene iii: Rosalind’s Banishment
- establishes Duke Fredrick as Rosalind's opposing force and the man who banished her father
- shifts the dynamics of Rosalind and Celia’s social status as they leave the court
- proves Celia’s loyalty to Rosalind through her willingness to go with her cousin
- explicitly states in what form we will see the two characters for the remainder of the play: Rosalind crossdressed as a poor shepherd, Ganymede, and Celia as his ragged sister, Aliena
- introduces where the banished Duke Senior resides— the Forest of Arden— and explicitly states the two character's decision to look for him, connecting the two settings and characters
- establishes the second goal for Rosalind to find her father
- Act II, scene iii: Adam Tells Orlando to Flee
- shifts the dynamics of Orlando’s social status as he leaves the court
- encompasses the hatred Oliver has toward his brother, Orlando, and therefore builds suspense for the threat of when the two brothers will meet again
- maintains direction toward a comedic end, by giving proximity to the Orlando and Rosalind to meet again in the Forest of Arden
- establishes dramatic irony as both Orlando and Rosalind are unaware that the other finds a similar fate forcing them to flee the court
- establishes Oliver as Orlando's opposing force
- Act III, scene i: Duke Fredrick Seeks Oliver’s Help
- implies Duke Fredrick’s anger that Celia left with Rosalind
- wrongly places blame on Orlando, thus sharing Oliver’s goal to harm Orlando with Duke Fredrick
- introduces an alliance between the two opposing forces
- further builds tension by sending Oliver into the Forest of Arden with the purpose of harming Orlando
- Act III, scene ii: Rosalind and Orlando Meet Again
- offers dramatic irony as the audience and Rosalind know her identity, but Orlando does not
- explicitly reveals how both Orlando and Rosalind feels about the other; only Rosalind knows how the other feels, Orlando remains ignorant
- Orlando’s conversation with Rosalind dressed as Ganymede shows their intellectual chemistry, suggesting the match goes beyond infatuation
- Act IV, scene iii: Oliver Finds Orlando and Rosalind Separately in the Forest
- dramatic irony furthers the comedic storyline when a secondary female character announces her love with the cross-dressed Rosalind whom she believes is a male named Ganymede
- tension reaches the pinnacle when Oliver meets the girls, exposing his identity while Orlando is absent
- reports the lapse in plot points when Oliver was searching the Forest of Arden for Orlando; revealed through the primary perspective of Oliver
- establishes suspense for what has become of Orlando as Oliver’s previous characterization suggests he should not be trusted, yet Oliver offers proof of his claims that he has changed
- Act V, scenes iii and iv: The Wedding Plan
- climax and resolution
- unifies all plotlines
- satisfies the primary characters goals: Orlando and Rosalind get married, as well as she is reconnected with her father
- fulfills comedic expectation with four weddings
- acknowledges the denied storyline following Duke Fredrick, revealing he has since decided to become a religious recluse
- satisfies the rightful power structure in the secondary storyline: Duke Senior’s status is restored and all those banished are permitted to return to the court
Creative Directions
All characters will remain within the mise-en-scene at all times. A spotlight will draw attention to those speaking within the scene, and the entire mise-en-scene will remain lit throughout the production. Those in the backgrounded scenes will continue to move throughout their set, instead of standing idle. This decision intends to visualize the unavoidable relationship between the two groups despite their lack of interaction.
Furthermore, as several characters— including Orlando and Rosalind— begin the play in the court setting, but are later banished to the Forest of Arden, these characters will physically move from the upper set to the lower set. At the close of the scene in which the character is banished, (s)he will leave through the door in the upper set. In the following scene that the banished character has lines, (s)he will later re-enter the mise-en-scene in the lower set. They will return in their changed costume reflecting their new position of power. This decision will draw attention to the weight these banishments have to not only the plot but the societal structure.
To maintain fidelity toward the original script, modern modifications will be made to accommodate the change in setting. For example, in Act III, scene ii, Orlando will spray paint his love notes onto the support beams of the lower set. Rather than writing full poems, he will draw both character's initials inside a heart. This decision will adjust for Orlando's love letters which vandalize the forest setting while maintaining modernity.
Similarly, Act IV, scene iii will maintain uncertainty for Orlando's fate through staging. In the background, the two characters interact. There will not be an actor dressed as a lion. Instead, the two brothers will meet and interact, until Orlando lays nearly lifeless on the stage. Lastly, before the final scene, the characters remaining in the upper set will silently exit the mise-en-scene as Duke Fredrick relinquishes his power. Those in the forest will be unaware of this motion. This will open a court which is prepared for Duke Senior's return and suggests that the story continues after the play’s epilogue.
Concern
One concern regarding this production is how to grapple the gravity of the commentary and the light-heartedness of the play, specifically in regards to tone. This production will maintain the lighthearted tone which works best with the play. The jokes will be emphasized through body language and the characters will reflect the appropriate emotions for the dialogue. This choice intends to mimic that even post-Grenfell, the homeless population are still humans, despite their circumstances.
Part Two
Performance
As You Like It performed, performed at Regent’s Park’s Open Air Theatre.
Focus
Like my directions, the Regent’s Park production of As You Like It comments on a contemporary social issue. Where I focus on the problem of homelessness, Webster features a Permaculturist perspective toward threats on the natural environment. Specifically, threats “caused by lifestyles that have developed in the west” (Program 15).
Script
Where my directorial proposes to follow the script exactly, Director Max Webster utilizes the script as a suggestion. Webster is so preoccupied with justifying his creative decisions that the source work becomes secondary to the production. For example, Webster ties up unnecessary plot points for Shakespeare, including Adam’s on-stage death. Webster then emphasizes this decision by having Jaques repeat the seventh stage of a man’s life slowly as she walks off stage for intermission: “sans everything” (Shakespeare 98). Webster also ignores monumental monologues, including Touchstone’s recount of “a lie seven times removed” (Shakespeare 230). This monologue reflects the significance of Rosalind’s ability to establish resolution by fulfilling the “ifs” she promises Orlando, Silvius, and Phoebe (Shakespeare 224-226).
Furthermore, Webster follows the tradition of accompanying the production with musical compositions, including an opening number (Bevington). The musical scores are contemporary— including pop-hits like Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and original rustic compositions by Charlie Fink— and are not unified by genre. Webster times these musical interludes for comic effect, rather than allowing Shakespeare’s puns to resonate on their own. Webster provokes a cheap laugh this way. The plot is further enhanced by diegetic sound effects, including applause at the wrestling match and helicopter whizzing when the third brother comes to deliver the Court news (Shakespeare 236).
Character Dynamics
The casting for this production is traditional and adheres to the script’s character descriptions, including Celia being “browner” and Rosalind embodying Victorian beauty standards (Shakespeare 194; Bevington). Although Black actors hold the roles of Silvius, Celia, and a single forest man, the cast is primarily Caucasian and lacks diversity. Webster disregards lines which challenge contemporary political correctness relating to his casting decisions. For example, because a Black actor plays Celia, Oliver does not note that he recognizes her by Orlando’s description: “the woman low and browner than her brother” (Shakespeare 194).
Furthermore, Webster casts actors-- with the exception of Jacques— in accordance with their assigned gender. The 1950’s acting style and return to social expectations reinforce traditional cisgender norms and remove the homoeroticism from Orlando and Rosalind’s relationship. Webster’s casting results in an exceptionally heterosexual adaptation which ultimately fails his source work.
After seeing the failures of Webster's castings, I reconsider my decision to reflect familial relationships. Instead, I will cast all roles with a blindness to race and gender, as well as traditional beauty standards. I believe this change will be more effective and will maintain the sexual ambivalence around Rosalind's relationships with Orlando and Celia.
Staging
The theater offers a single stage surrounded by a semicircular pool of water in the foreground and trees in the background. Webster utilizes the entirety of the space, including space reserved for the audience. Through staging, Webster suggests his environmental focus.
Webster sets the court in an uncharacterized urban environment and the Forest of Arden in a countryside resembling an isolated ranch in Montana. These decisions effectively juxtapose one another to reflect the drastic differences between the court and the forest. Both of these settings are presumably in contemporary times where security cameras, iPhones, and niche-decorative designer grills exist.
In the first act, the stage is a minimalist metallic silver box, surrounded by a rain curtain which conceals the second set. Garbage occupies the foreground. Props— including garbage reciprocals, paper coffee cups, security cameras, wrestling mats and umbrellas— make appearances throughout the first act. In the second act, the rain curtain drops, revealing a ranch house set among the trees. The garbage still surrounds the stage. A table constructed from recycled materials sits in front of the ranch for the feast hosted by Duke Senior. A snow machine sporadically fills the stage and front couple rows with white, suggesting the winter season.
During intermission, stagehands clean the garbage from around the stage. However, Webster offers no explanation on stage for how the garbage miraculous disappears. This decision implies that the environmental focus is unified, despite the plot's conflicts remaining unresolved. Flowers and hanging lights suggest a change from winter to spring and successfully reflect the timeline of the plot.
Costuming
Similar to my decision, Webster reflects class through costuming. In the court setting, the characters wear business casual suits, save for Orlando and Adam who occupy a lower social status. They instead wear fast-food uniforms and casual street clothes.
However, in the forest, in the absence of a formal social structure, the costumes reflect the character’s setting, rather than class. These costumes are layers of rustic-styled garb made from dirty monochromatic denim, leather, and hide.
Commentary
Webster’s focus is non-committal and missed unless reading his four-page commentary, published in the program. His focus also reveals that he does not understand his source material.
Webster’s focus suggests the primary characters— such as Rosalind, Orlando, and Celia— seek refuge from the court in favor of a simpler lifestyle. However, he fails to recognize the script’s cause: characters in power within the Court, such as Duke Fredrick and Oliver, threaten these characters’ safety (Shakespeare 48; 62-64 ). They do not flee to the forest because they believe the pastoral lifestyle will be more fulfilling, but “to seek [the banished duke] in the Forest of Arden” (Shakespeare 50).
Furthermore, this play satirizes the pastoral, mocking the romanticism associated with the simple lifestyle. The focus’s intent to promote pastoral ideals is ironic as Touchstone mocks Corin’s for his life as a shepherd, outside of the court (Shakespeare 104-110). The final scene of the plot further undermines Webster’s focus when the characters desire to return to court when they learn that Duke Fredrick has been “converted both from his enterprise and from the world” (Shakespeare 236). This contradiction between plot and production focus consequently fails both the plot and Webster’s focus.
Works Cited
Bevington, David. “As You Like It: Performance History.” Internet Shakespeare Editions, June
Program for William Shakespeare’s As You Like It at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre,
London, Playbill, 2018, pp. 12–15.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Spark Notes, 2004.
“Types of Homelessness.” Crisis, Crisis Organization, Nov. 2017,
Note: I handed this in on D2L on Monday, and Hannah just reminded me we have to post it to the blog as well
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