As You Like It

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

Shakespeare's As You Like It (1978 TV Movie) was directed by Basil Coleman. Helen Mirren stars as Rosalind, the biggest female role in any Shakespeare play.

This movie is part of the Ambrose Shakespeare series, which filmed every one of Shakespeare's plays. Typically, movies in this series had minimal production values. (This is the way Shakespeare's plays were seen when they were originally produced. However, now the lack of scenery looks skimpy.)

However, this movie was filmed in Glamis Castle (as in Macbeth). The location allows us to see a real castle, with ramparts, as well as a great wooded area, which becomes Arden Forest.

We all know that Mirren can act, but I think she got better as she grew older. One problem is that she's very feminine--as Viola is--but she spends most of the play dressed as a man.

This As You Like it is probably as good as you're going to get on the small screen. I don't think it matters whether you see it as DVD or in a movie theater. My advice is to try to see it live onstage.

I can't possibly disagree with the first review more. The cast is splendid, the performances are spot on, and unlike most of the BBC productions it engages you immediately and doesn't bog down.

Richard Pascoe's Jaques is amazing, Hellen Mirren gives her usual strong performance, and so many of the smaller parts stand out. Touchstone for instance steals every scene he's in.

Indeed the only thing you really need wink at is the absurdity of Shakespeare's plot and its fantastical 11th hour resolution, but none of that matters...the play's the thing. Even the music is quite lovely.

This production benefits from great use of natural settings and a cast that knows how to make "the bard" sing for those of us not steeped in medieval English. The music is an added bonus. The director included the wrestling match instead of just hearing about it, no doubt to provide a little bit of action to what is otherwise mostly talk. The pacing is a little slow at times, but since we're not really worried about the plot it doesn't matter. Helen Mirren sets the tone for all the actors in terms of really getting into the role. The emphasis is not so much the cynicism but the "looking at oneself from the outside." We are encouraged to look at ourselves thusly.

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.