As You Like It

'The Bridge Project' presents Shakespeare's As You Like It in London directed by Sam Mendes as featuring a transatlantic cast.

Rosalind (disguised as a boy) goes into the forest in search of her father and finds Orlando, with whom she is infatuated, also fleeing tyranny. She offers to cure him of his obsession with her. Thus begins Shakespeare's great celebration of young love.

The cast for As You Like It in London features Stephen Dillane as 'Jaques', Christian Camargo as 'Orlando' and Juliet Rylance as 'Celia' with Michelle Beck, Ron Cephas Jones and Thomas Sadoski. It is directed by Sam Mendes with set designs by Tom Piper, costume designs by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Paul Pyant, sound by Simon Baker, music by Mark Bennett and choreography by Josh Prince. As You Like It and The Tempest are performed in repertory by the same acting company and creative team. Prior to tickets going on sale it was anounced that Anne-Marie Duff, who was expected to play 'Rosalind' in this production, had withdrawn due to illness in her family.

Performance schedule for The Bridge Project / Old Vic Theatre 2010 - The Tempest / As You Like It:

"The British and American collaborative Bridge Project is back at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with As You Like It. Cleverly directed by Sam Mendes, it does very nicely without absolute stars, although Stephen Dillane, Juliet Rylance and Thomas Sadoski bring considerable reputations to an elegant production... As usual, however, it is Mendes's direction that charms with fresh and frolicsome ideas, as when Orlando and Rosalind (as Ganymede) converse from high up in facing trees, or the moment when an unsuspecting departing character reveals one of Orlando's love letters to Rosalind pinned to his back. Three hours, with only one relatively brief intermission, pass by fleetly." Bloomberg.com

"Like the plot of As You Like It, which moves from winter to spring, the Bridge Project production of the classic at BAM goes from chilly to charming. It just takes a while to get there. The staging by Sam Mendes gets off to a glacial start that fails to find traction or pull us into Shakespeare's language. Then, when the talking literally stops, the show finds its voice and its magnetic pull. This is the moment when a lovestruck Orlando can't bring himself to say a word to the fair Rosalind, who's equally smitten... Sam Mendes has peppered the production with stirring visuals. Among them are men of the duke's court morphing into rustic foresters, a blood-soaked nightmare and a joyous wedding dance to the enchanting music composed by Mark Bennett." New York Daily News

"Sam Mendes' new production is the latest entry in BAM's Bridge Project, which mixes American and British actors. The director hit the jackpot with The Cherry Orchard and The Winter's Tale last year, but this new installment is out of whack. In an attempt to find connections between this show and the upcoming The Tempest, Mendes opted for a static, 'poetic' approach that sucks most of the laughs out of the comedy. It may still have worked if the company functioned as a tight unit, but the Americans are outmatched by their British colleagues. Prime among the Brits is Juliet Rylance. To say she does Rosalind justice is an understatement: We're only in January, but it's unlikely we'll see a more insightful, more luminous performance all year... The great Stephen Dillane also finds an undergirding of humor in misanthropy." The New York Post

This production of As You Like It was staged at Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theater in New York where it previewed from 12 January 2010, opened on 26 January 2010 and closed on 13 March 2010.

The Bridge Project is an unprecedented three-year, transatlantic partnership uniting The Old Vic Theatre in London with The Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, and Neal Street Productions. Each year a single Anglo/American company will perform a double-bill of classic works in repertory at both the Brooklyn Academy of Music and at The Old Vic Theatre, and make at least one other international visit. The project is borne out of the group's shared desire to produce large-scale, classical theatre for international audiences. The Project started in 2009 when Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard where presented. Now, for the Project's second year in 2010, two of Shakespeare's play will be performed - As You Like It and The Tempest. The Bridge Project was originally due to start in 2008 with Shakespeare's Hamlet and The Tempest with a company lead by Stephen Dillane but was postponed by a year when Stephen Dillane withdrew "due to personal reasons arising from family reasons."

As You Like It in London at the Old Vic Theatre as part of the Bridge Project 2010, previews from 12 June 2010, opens on 23 June 2010 and closes on 21 August 2010 - playing in reperotry with The Tempest.