As You Like It

After we all pick a spot on the grass and set up our picnic rugs and low camping chairs, a jester makes his way through the crowd to the simple outdoor stage and goes through some housekeeping, incorporating as many bad puns as possible.

The Australian Shakespeare Company’s take on As You Like It does not get any less corny as it goes on, but the characters – stiff at first – soon find their groove and deliver the laughs [the show’s logo does have “(funny)” written under the title, after all] through fast-paced quips, cartoonish yet sharp physical humour, and some zinger altered lines about Aussie politicians.

The classic love-quadrilateral-ish storyline (boy loves girl who loves boy who is actually a girl pretending to be a boy, who loves boy who loves girl pretending to be boy) propels the show to its chaotic end, while the whole play is driven by the performances of Louisa Fitzhardinge (the savvy leading lady Rosalind), Mark Dickinson (Jacques/Charles, the sarcastic charmer with impeccable comedic timing) and Anthony Rive (the sly fool Touchstone). The music and choreography leaves a little to be desired, and the audience participation – while amusing – takes us out of world built on stage, but if it’s a fluffy, cheesy rom-com you’re after, As You Like It may be to your liking.

Royal Botanic Gardens to 14 Mar