The Globe’s queer take on As You Like It is surprisingly traditional – review
We had high hopes for this new take on As You Like It – featuring a host of LGBTQ+ talent and created by the same team behind Sound of the Underground at the Royal Court Theatre earlier this year, we were anticipating something fabulous, queer and unexpected.
Some of the text has been tweaked to include contemporary lines added by Travis Alabanza; the costumes, which at first glance appear conventional, feature an array of modern accessories; the music utilises some recent pop songs.
But none of it feels particularly radical – the end product is almost as traditional as any other play we’ve seen at The Globe.
None of this is to say it’s bad, of course, just far more conventional than we had expected. One of Shakespeare’s best-known comedies, it follows the story of Rosalind (Nina Bowers) and her cousin Celia (Macy-Jacob Seelochan); Rosalind has been banished from court, so the pair flee for safety and find themselves, in disguise, in the Forest of Ardern.
