As You Like It

This is where it all began. BBC producer Cedric Messina was shooting a drama at Glamis Castle when he thought, "What a great place to shoot 'As You Like It.'" And so the idea for the complete series of Shakespeare telecasts was born.

Unfortunately, an all-too-real Forest of Arden here provides an impediment to the play. An artificial meditation on identity and appearance, "As You Like It" has one of Shakespeare's lamest plots, with poor characterizations, perfunctory incidents and sloppy story resolution. "Love's Labour's Lost" and "Twelfth Night" are as solid as tanks by comparison.

Video equipment was not as portable in the late 1970s as it is now, and the whole exercise is sapped by the actors' battle against Nature and logistics. A sense of strain is omnipresent. The characters are often physically too far apart and must yell at each other, Helen Mirren has to wave gnats away from her face repeatedly during a major speech, and a lush carpeting of ferns belies text references to a harsh outdoor existence. Basically, you come out of this play humming the trees.

Performances across the board are OK, but never better than that. Helen Mirren shows reliable professionalism as Rosalind and Richard Pasco's bilious affect is uniquely suitable to the character of Jacques.

Also noteworthy is the Banished Duke of Tony Church, who recorded frequently for the now-forgotten Marlowe Society of Cambridge's complete Shakespeare series on Argo LPs. And 6'7" David Prowse, fresh off his first appearance as Darth Vader in the original "Star Wars," shows up unexpectedly as Charles the Wrestler, performing the Shakespeare well in his own voice, and not overdubbed by James Earl Jones.

Budget considerations meant that "As You Like It" and "Henry VIII" would be the only plays in this series shot on location. BBC studio drama would come to an end in the early 1990's, but a production like this one points up the advantages of staying indoors.

To put it lightly, 'As You Like It' is not one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. Consider it one of his weakest actually. It's not the language and text that's the problem, Shakespeare's unrivalled mastery of language and text can be seen in even his lesser work. The problem is the too thin and absurd story with a silly and randomly introduced ending, just about kept afloat by Shakespeare's prose and nice characters.

Do find the late 70s-early 80s BBC Shakespeare adaptations very interesting for mainly their distinguished casts and general fidelity and respect to the plays. Regardless of reservations with the production values and more than once there has been uneven casting. Don't consider any of them unwatchable but some are better than others, liked to loved a fair number but some disappointed. This production of 'As You Like It' has garnered some scorn here, while sharing some of the criticisms to me despite its unevenness it's better than has been said by some. It is not one of the best of the series, nowhere near, but not one of the worst. Personally would put it somewhere in the middle.

Can understand a few of the criticisms. The camera work is static in places and tends to be rather unimaginative.

'As You Like It's' pace has its draggy spots when the action is especially thin and on the static side in direction (the story of the play though is to blame partly for this though). And the humour is variable, most moments delight and are very funny, especially the witty banter, but others came over as strained as a result of trying too hard dramatically.

However, really did love the rustic sets (one of not many in the series to be done on location, thus there is more of an opened-up feel), which looked very attractive. Especially the forest setting. The costumes were evocative and didn't look ugly. Also appreciated that as a performance and adaptation it was faithful to the text and action, generally did make it engaging and make it easy to understand and didn't try to incorporate any senseless or distasteful touches. The most inspired touch being the wrestling scene. Even if it could have taken more risks and had more freshness as there was at times an air of too faithful and safe.

Shakespeare's wit and poetry always shines, as does the beautiful music, but it's the cast that make this production of 'As You Like It' worth seeing. Helen Mirren has a demanding role as Rosalind and carries it off pretty splendidly. Brian Stirner has his dull moments early on but mostly his Orlando is very convincing. Richard Pasco revels in Jaques' pompous condescension in a maddeningly thrilling way and James Bolam is a scene-stealing Touchstone. Angharad Rees is very good.

All in all, decent production and while flawed better than given credit for. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I am shocked at how much scorn this adaptation of As You Like It has garnered on this website. In my opinion, it's a good if not great adaptation of one of the Bard's lesser comedies.

Helen Mirren and the beautiful locations are the prime reasons to check this one out. Mirren is engaging as the heroine Rosalind. And the forest and castle used for shooting are just beautiful.

Of course, the play itself has issues. The plot is thin and the resolution comes out of nowhere. Still, it's all an excuse to hear that glorious verse and witty banter.

A fine film, though not essential.

Some of these BBC Television Shakespeare adaptations are a bit dry and dusty. But this one was really dynamic and engaging. Helen Mirren is the perfect and most beautiful Rosalind, the best I have seen. I love the songs they composed for the Shakespearean lyrics. There aren't many AYLI versions available to watch on screen so this is a must watch. Along with the 2010 Globe version which is available online.

Helen Mirren heads a splendid cast of actors in this production. Not only is the cinematography lovely, but the forest scenes accurately depict both the sense of freedom and the sense of dislocation and strangeness that a retreat to the Forest of Arden represents for the court characters. Rosalind serves as a splendid counterpoint to Orlando in the forest, training him to understand the needs of women and constantly catching him off-guard with her banter. Jacques is suitably pompous and condescending, admirably outwitted by Rosalind when he has the audacity to attempt to match wits with her. Even the minor parts, such as those of Phebe and Audrey, are acted with skill.