08 Aug 2026
Deborah Heath is at the Roman Theatre Festival as Shakespeare meets the Summer of Love…
I first saw OVO present their Summer Of Love adaptation of ‘As You Like It’ in 2019 and was absolutely bowled over by their method of staging the play. They walked the audience around various locations in The Maltings which complemented the rather episodic structure of the first part of the play.
In fact, OVO first staged ‘As You Like It’ in 2016 and now, 10 years on and several accolades later, they are revisiting it once again, this time nestling it in the beautiful site of the Roman Theatre.
‘As You Like It’ is one of Shakespeare’s lesser performed comedies, although it is one of my personal favourites due to some pleasing sub plots, well-rounded characters and strong roles for women. The city opening is gritty and violent and the remainder, set in the romantic forest of Arden is by contrast light-hearted, warm and musical. This is what makes it a good vehicle for OVO – it’s a challenge but with their sense of fun and their knack of choosing the right music to complement the Bard’s work, you can be sure you are in safe hands.
The Swinging Sixties is a great period to reset the play in – it was a time of social change, with
attitudes to sex and gender becoming looser which really complements the story. I do not want to give any spoilers but must commend Simon Nicholas’ set design for its beauty, quick versatility and ability to set the scene. Cieranne Kennedy-Bell’s costume’s captured the essence of the period too with sharp black and whites for the city dwellers and an array of colours and textures for the commune members.
Shakespeare wrote ‘As You Like It’ complete with its own songs such as ‘There Was Lover And His Lass’ but musical director Tom Cagnoni and his band, The Whom (!) instead present a number of more modern songs more appropriate for their setting.
‘Summer in The City’ is the perfect opener, showcasing design, music and chorography in one fell swoop. Another highlight ‘These Boots Are Made for Walking’, is performed brilliantly by Charlotte Ware as Phoebe and Max Gallagher as Silvius – I love the way director/adaptor Adam Nichols showcases sub plots like this.
Ryan Munroe’s choreography is a joy to behold and the whole company musical and dancing numbers are high points in the show such as ‘It’s All Too Beautiful’ which incorporates live saxophone and trumpet playing from the actor musicians.
What I loved about the 2019 staging of ‘As You Like It’ was the high audience interactive element.
To be honest, I missed this, but I quite understand that OVO needed to adapt the play for the current space, and I appreciate their measures to still involve the audience. A strong example is the famous ages of man speech, delivered with great skill by Lachlan Maccall as Jacques, in which he moves around the seating area, finding an audience member to represent each age. This was a stand-out part of the show for me and it’s great to know that it will be slightly different every night.
There is also a lovely surprise towards the end of the play which will have any audience member tapping their toes!
The acting ensemble and band are a good team. There are some lovely comic moments between the three sets of lovers including the first meeting of “Bruce” and Orlando in the Forest of Arden. Jessica Vickers (Rosalind) and Hannah Brownlie (Celia) worked particularly well together. I appreciated Nathan French’s Orlando – it can be a tricky role to play as he is so full of frustration and anger but he managed to strike the right balance to bring out the comedy.
Evie Wright on drums showcased some highly skilled snare work and a steady unifying pulse throughout to keep everyone together.
This time, I enjoyed the comfort of the luxury raised seating area. There is no doubt about it, the canopy can be very handy and the padded seats are lovely, but personally, I missed feeling the vibe of being near the actors. It was probably for this reason that strangely, despite a very good show, I didn’t feel as affected by it as I had hoped to. However, every theatre-goer has different priorities and I think it’s great that OVO are now offering the option of these premium seats.
Seeing ‘As You Like It’ is a really fun way to spend an evening. OVO provide a colourful and jolly 1960s experience for their audience and the opportunity to see one of Shakespeare’s lesser performed comedies staged in an imaginative way with great creative and technical realisation.
Photos by Ian Cullen
