Sydney Reviews

Wit and beauty, pride and sorrow, self disgust and merriment, all the ingredients of Fingerless Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, served in a gay and giddy three hour picnic.

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; although in this production some of the ensemble rise above the mere.

Sonya Kerr impresses as Duchess Francoise and Duchess Senior, a genius Janus juggling performance, a dual in the crown of casting and character, one imperious, the other inclusive, both roles invested with nuanced magisterial presence.

Director Alex Kendall Robson ensures his cast have their exits and their entrances in fluid manner, and certainly each man and woman in this exceedingly long running time, plays many parts, including sheep and stag and strange wedding celebrant.

There’s an exuberant pitch by star crossed lovers, with Jade Fuda as cross-dressing Rosalind and Pat Mandziy as cross-with-his brother, Orlando, and souped-up comic ribaldry from Meg Bennetts as Audrey and Nicholas Starte as Sylvius.

Director Alex Kendall Robson has cast himself as Jacques, known in the play as Monsieur Melancholy. This is a portrayal with a hinting rather than a haunting refrain of melancholia, more a shaggy Belching merriment. His highlight in the spotlight is singing La Vie En Rose as requiem to a deer departed. 

Last scene of all that ends this strange eventful history, this production of  As You Like It eschews the epilogue for a full cast rendition of I Wanna Dance With Somebody.

All very animated with an abundance of energy from actors and minstrels, a standout sight and sound gag reprised judiciously, and a jumbled set more reminiscent of a rehearsal room than that other Eden, the forest of Arden, and what of it? It may just be as you like it!

Performing at Flight Path Theatre, Marrickville.