As You Like It returns to the Globe Theatre for the sixth time since Lucy Bailey’s memorable staging in 1998. And what a return it is. The production, co-directed by Sean Holmes and Charlie Josephine, absolutely fizzes with energy – from Kate Richardson’s rumbustious live music to the verbal and physical gymnastics of Touchstone the clown – Jonnie Broadbent on top form – and of course the entanglements that arise en route to a happy ending. Dispelling memories of the worthy but chaotically structured production of 2018 and 2019, this new production goes back to basics and with the accent on rambunctious comedy gives the public what they want, just – one suspects – as the first production must have been designed to do in 1599 or thereabouts.
The story – there is one – centres on a young woman who – like so many Shakespearean heroes and heroines – is banished, on this occasion by her uncle, Duke Frederick. She flees the oppressive atmosphere of his court to a less restrictive life in Arden where her father, Duke Senior, has been living since himself being banished by Duke Frederick. Accompanied by Touchstone and her cousin, Celia, Rosalind dons a wig that recalls the young Judi Dench and, disguised as a man, takes the name of Ganymede. In Greek mythology Ganymede was the handsomest of men, beloved by the king of the gods, and for some that provides a pointer to a subtext that is not even vaguely apparent in this production. When Rosalind’s true love Orlando (co-director Charlie Josephine, channelling Joe Swash) also rocks up in the woods, the stage is set and, in a blur of mischief, misunderstandings and marriages, girls who are boys look for boys who like girls and pretty much everyone – more or less – ends up with someone they really love.
Supported by casting director Becky Paris, the co-directors are blessed with a wonderfully connected team of actors and musicians. As Rosalind, the versatile Lola Shalam underlines the case for Rosalind as Shakespeare’s greatest female character while Gracie Oddie-James is sublime as Celia. Playing mismatched lovers Phoebe and Silvius – smaller roles that are all but ignored in some productions – Molly Madigan and Busa Wickramasuriya are hilarious, while Jonnie Broadbent (Touchstone) and Phoebe Naughton (Audrey) extract every gram of comedy from their lusty romance. Katharine Pearce is a less tiresomely depressive Jacques than we usually see, and a word too for the rest of the cast of this vibrantly energetic production.
This is Shakespearean comedy of the highest quality, very much as we like it and very much as you will like it too.
Review by Louis Mazzini
Experience Shakespeare’s love-struck comedy as an eighteenth-century court transforms into a forest of freedom, painted live on stage every performance.
Rosalind is suffocating in the newly reigning Duke’s court. Surrounded by high wigs and even higher tempers, when egos come to a head, Rosalind and Celia flee into the forest.
Arriving at the Forest of Arden, they stumble into a world where opposites attract, destiny is defined, and though love may be easy to find, it can often be hard to recognise…
Peter Bourke – Adam / Oliver Martext
Jonnie Broadbent – Touchstone
Jurell Carter – Charles / William
Colm Gormley – Duke Senior / Duke Frederick / Corin
Charlie Josephine – Orlando
Thomas Josling – Oliver / Amiens
Molly Madigan – Phoebe
Phoebe Naughton – Audrey
Gracie Oddie-James – Celia
Katherine Pearce – Jaques
Jordan Rhys – Jaques de Boys / Cover
Katie Richardson – Hymen
Lola Shalam – Rosalind
Inez Solomon-Gardner – Ensemble / Cover
Busa Wickramasuriya – Silvius
Directed by Sean Holmes and Charlie Josephine
Marley-Rose Liburd – Assistant Director
Katie Richardson – Composer
Paul Wills – Designer
Bethan Clark – Fight and Intimacy Director
Tamsin Hurtado Clarke – Movement Director
Simon Trinder – Text Consultant
Gary Horner – Voice Coach
Becky Paris CDG – Casting Director
Alice Walters – Casting Associate
AS YOU LIKE IT
Shakespeare’s Globe
14 August to 25 October 2026
Book Tickets for As You Like It
