Review: As You Like It (Royal Hospital Chelsea)

Review by Sam Woodward

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There are few better ways to spend a summer evening than watching live theatre in an outdoor venue, particularly amid the beautifully warm, sunny weather the UK has been experiencing in recent weeks. There is something even more special about Shakespeare performed outdoors, an ode to the wandering players of the Elizabethan era. Last night, the HandleBards performed As You Like It at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Not a typo, the HandleBards travel around the country with their set, props, costumes and instruments all carried by bicycle. Reinventing one of Shakespeare’s most iconic plays with ingenuity, this production lands with enthusiasm, heart, and a healthy dose of audience participation.

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s great comedies of escape and transformation. Rosalind and Celia flee the pressures of court life for the Forest of Arden, where disguise, mistaken identity, romance and reinvention allow the usual rules of society to loosen. It is a play about love, freedom and the peculiar clarity that can come from getting lost for a while, which makes it particularly well suited to the HandleBards’ playful, open-air style. Proving that ‘all the world's a stage’, even the Soane Stable Yard of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, four actors are able to transform the rough cobblestones and wooden chairs of this courtyard into the Forest of Arden with remarkable ease.

Much of the evening's pleasure comes from watching just how much theatrical mileage the HandleBards can get from very little. With only four performers, a limited collection of small albeit essential props and costumes, and no elaborate set to hide behind, the production depends entirely on energy, clarity and invention. Joel Benedict, Sarah Bulmer, Isobel Donkin and Josh Radcliffe throw themselves into a crowded world of lovers, courtiers, shepherds and fools, switching roles with impressive speed and a pleasing lack of embarrassment. What’s more, their voices carry cleanly in the open air, with Shakespeare’s language remaining clear even without microphones. It is deliberately rough-edged in places, but that roughness becomes part of the joke: this is Shakespeare built in front of us, with the mechanics joyfully exposed. What is most impressive is that the farcical elements of the show never fall into tacky, eye-rolling moments, but instead bring fresh heart to a well-known story.

Beyond this, the formidable foursome are able to make Shakespeare wonderfully accessible. Instead of becoming weighed down by reams of dialogue, director Mark Collier and composer Guy Hughes have adapted a five-act, 22-scene play into two 50-minute acts which are digestible, full of fun, and never feel overly long. By cutting down some of the play’s longer scenes into tighter and wittier sections, the story becomes fairly easy to understand, even with so many shape-shifting characters, costumes and voices. This is testament both to the creative team and the actors themselves, who have created a meaningful, easy to follow, and completely refreshing version of As You Like It. Guy Hughes’ music, whether from a guitar, coconut, tambourine, or voice, adds a beautiful musical thread that weaves throughout the performance in a grounding and harmonious way.

The comedy is broad, but never lazy. A sheep, a plastic bottle, a tambourine or a pair of handlebars can suddenly become the centre of a scene, as can an unwitting audience member (bravo, Peter!) who becomes a warm, funny and essential part of the play. Throughout, the production finds constant joy in the sheer absurdity of making do. Lucy Green’s design deserves credit here too, turning the show’s limitations into part of its comic language. There is a childlike quality to the best moments, not because the work is simplistic, but because it understands the pleasure of play. As a result, an audience full of adults still finds it easy to laugh, cheer and join in. This works because the actors invite the audience into the joke rather than performing at a distance, with chants, direct address and moments of interaction giving the evening the feel of a shared game.

The production is not without its bumps. The opening takes a little while to settle, and there are moments when the speed of the multi-roling slightly overtakes the emotional texture of the play. Some jokes also land more cleanly than others, which is perhaps inevitable in a show so dependent on pace, audience response and outdoor atmosphere. Still, these are minor reservations in a production that is intentionally loose, lively and alive to the unpredictability of the form. 

By the end, the HandleBards have made the Forest of Arden feel less like a distant literary landscape than a temporary community built in front of us. It is silly, generous, occasionally scrappy and often genuinely inspired. For audiences nervous about Shakespeare, this would be a wonderful place to start; for those who already love him, it is a reminder of how light, strange and joyful these plays can still feel. It may not be the most polished or profound version of As You Like It, but it is one of the most joyous and welcoming versions you could hope to stumble across on a summer evening. That generosity extends beyond the performance itself: as a charity, the HandleBards support sustainable touring, creative workshops and outreach with underserved communities across the UK. The HandleBards deliver a spirited reminder that great theatre can be built from very little, provided there is imagination, commitment and heart.

As You Like It is cycling around the UK until September. Tickets from https://www.handlebards.com/tickets/ 

Photos by Tom Dixon