RSC’s all-male As You Like It recasts Shakespeare’s comedy as queer pastoral theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Company's all-male production of "As You Like It," directed by Daniel Evans and starring Jonathan Groff as Rosalind, offers an ingenious reimagining of Shakespeare's gender-bending pastoral comedy. Though the opening night was disrupted by a technical difficulty lasting over an hour, the production proved visually stunning and thematically sophisticated. The all-male casting brings depth and subtlety to the work, simultaneously nodding to Elizabethan theatre traditions whilst offering a contemporary, queer interpretation.
The production creates a stark contrast between Duke Frederick's brutal court, complete with an intimidating WWE-style wrestling match, and the verdant Forest of Arden, reimagined as rural Wales. Groff delivers a nuanced performance, excelling in his layered portrayal of a man playing a woman playing a man, whilst Fisayo Akinade's Celia is described as a "runaway highlight," bringing depth to the same-sex eroticism between the characters. The production replaces Shakespeare's original songs with Welsh folk hymns, and whilst pacing feels slow in the latter stages, the overall visual and dramatic achievement remains formidable.
- Jonathan Groff stars in RSC's all-male As You Like It production.
- Production features WWE wrestling match and Welsh folk music instead of Shakespeare's songs.
- All-male casting proves ingenious, adding depth to the gender-bending comedy.
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"As You Like It" is a comedy written by William Shakespeare over 400 years ago. It tells the story of a young woman who escapes a dangerous court by disguising herself as a man and retreating to a forest. The Royal Shakespeare Company is staging a new production that casts only male actors in all the roles, including American actor Jonathan Groff as Rosalind, the central character.
This production interprets the play through a modern lens that emphasises queer themes. It contrasts a brutal urban court with a reimagined rural Welsh forest, using distinct visual styles and Welsh folk music to separate these two worlds. The all-male casting allows the production to highlight the play's original exploration of performance and gender, particularly in scenes where Groff's character adopts multiple layers of disguise.
The Royal Shakespeare Company regularly reimagines Shakespeare's works to find fresh meaning in them for modern audiences. Using an all-male cast is an artistic choice that echoes both historical Shakespearean theatre practices and contemporary theatrical experimentation. It demonstrates how productions can explore different dimensions of a classic text whilst keeping the story itself unchanged.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “As You Like It review – there are no mere players in the RSC’s ravishing all-male escapade”.