William Shakespeare's As You Like It has always been about escape. From dangerous courts to liberating forests, from rigid social roles to fluid identities, from winter's harshness to spring's promise. Alex Kendall Robson's production for Fingerless Theatre at Flight Path Theatre takes this theme and runs with it in an unexpected direction, ostensibly setting the Forest of Arden in what the director nostalgically recalls as "the golden summer of 2013-2014."
This choice reveals a director with a clear artistic vision. That brief cultural moment, when Instagram filters created warm, grainy nostalgia, when Mumford and Sons soundtracked backyard gatherings, when mason jars and Edison bulbs defined aesthetic aspiration. It represents a peculiarly millennial form of pastoral idealisation. Robson's parallel between Shakespeare's forest and hipster culture's embrace of artisanal simplicity demonstrates how each generation creates their own version of escape from contemporary pressures.
The director's inspiration from the 2021 COVID lockdown adds another layer. When picnics in the park suddenly felt like radical acts of freedom, audiences rediscovered the simple pleasures that Shakespeare's exiled characters celebrate in the forest. This connection between pandemic restrictions and court exile creates immediate resonance for audiences who lived through those constraints. And proves once again the timelessness of Shakespeare's works.
Robson's previous production of The Frogs: In Hell They Sing Show Tunes at New Theatre apparently established both the aesthetic and ensemble approach that shapes this version of As You Like It. The director's desire to recreate "that same sense of fun and delight" with many of the same cast and crew predicts a production built on established trust and shared artistic vision. When actors genuinely enjoy performing together, that energy becomes palpable to audiences in ways that technical perfection alone cannot achieve.
The casting of Jade Fuda as Rosalind brings a performer with prior experience in the play. Fuda appeared as both Celia and Phebe in Sport for Jove's 2021 production, now presenting the central role. Her observation about being "armed in fortune" and carrying "her destiny with her" captures Rosalind's agency within the narrative. The character's disguise as Ganymede allows her to control her own romantic education while testing Orlando's devotion, making her one of Shakespeare's most self-determining female characters.
Pat Mandziy takes on Orlando after his acclaimed turn as Dionysus in The Frogs, bringing experience with heightened theatrical comedy to a role that requires both romantic sincerity and willingness to be gently mocked. His description of "love is infectious, and so is the writing" suggests he's found the play's emotional truth beneath the pastoral conventions.
The production's embrace of "sweetness" as the central theme is a bold interpretive choice. Contemporary culture often treats earnestness with suspicion, preferring ironic distance to genuine emotion. Robson's decision to lean into the play's celebration of love, friendship, and simple pleasures (what he acknowledges as "cringey millennial" sincerity) positions the production against prevailing cynicism.
So, the director's conceptual framework, setting the Forest of Arden in the cultural moment of 2013-2014, provides a specific lens through which to view the pastoral comedy. Robson describes this as done "mostly for my own amusement," though the warm nostalgia for that period, with its embrace of simple pleasures and communal gatherings, aligns naturally with the play's themes. The production includes "a lot of picnicking," which connects both to the hipster aesthetic he references and to Shakespeare's outdoor forest scenes.
Zachary Aleksander's role as music director hopefully indicates a production where the play's songs receive full attention rather than being treated as incidental. As You Like It contains some of Shakespeare's most beautiful lyrics, and their musical treatment can significantly affect the production's overall tone.
It's satisfying to note the production's exploration of darker elements ("heartache, sadness and death") leads this pastoral comedy into some genuine melancholy. The director's reference to "Et in Arcadia ego" (the classical reminder that death exists even in paradise) positions the production as more than simple escapism.
But ultmately, Fingerless Theatre's As You Like It promises a performance that treats the play's sweetness as a genuine virtue rather than mere embarrassing naivety.
As You Like It runs March 4-14 at Flight Path Theatre.
Tickets and more info: https://www.flightpaththeatre.org/whats-on/as-you-like-it
(Images: supplied; Abraham de Souza)
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