It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue. (Ep.i.)
In As You Like It, witty words and romance play out against the disputes of divided pairs of brothers. Orlando‘s older brother, Oliver, treats him badly and refuses him his small inheritance from their father’s estate; Oliver schemes instead to have Orlando die in a wrestling match. Meanwhile, Duke Frederick has forced his older brother, Duke Senior, into exile in the Forest of Arden.
Duke Senior’s daughter, Rosalind, and Duke Frederick’s daughter, Celia, meet the victorious Orlando at the wrestling match; Orlando and Rosalind fall in love. Banished by her uncle, Rosalind assumes a male identity and leaves with Celia and their fool, Touchstone. Orlando flees Oliver’s murderous plots.
In the Forest of Arden, Rosalind, in her male disguise, forms a teasing friendship with Orlando. Oliver, searching for Orlando, reforms after Orlando saves his life. Rosalind reveals her identity, triggering several weddings, including her own with Orlando and Celia’s with Oliver. Duke Frederick restores the dukedom to Duke Senior, who leaves the forest with his followers (reproduced with permission from Folger).
Postcards of As You Like It:
Productions of As You Like It:
1890 As You Like It with Lily Langtry as Rosalind opened at the St. James’s Theatre (London) on February 24 and ran until April 30. The principal players were Henry Arncliffe and Arthur Bourchier as Jaques, Laurence Cautley as Orlando, Charles Sugden as Touchstone, Charles Fulton as the Duke, Amy McNeil as Celia, and Marion Lea as Audrey (Wearing, I: 13).
1890 Henry Irving leased the theater and Richard Dorney as acting manager presented As You Like It at the Lyceum Theatre (London). The play ran from July 15 to August 4, 1890, for a total of twenty-one performances. The players were John Drew as Orlando, Ada Rehan as Rosalind, James Lewis as Touchstone, Charles Wheatleigh as the Duke, William Sampson as Jaques, Isabel Irving as Audrey, and Adelaide Prince as Celia.
1891 Mrs. Patrick Campbell played Rosalind in a matinee performance of As You Like It at the Shaftesbury Theatre (London) on June 18. Others in the cast were Frank Worthing as Orlando, Ben Greet as Touchstone, Violet Raye as Celia, and Alexes Leighton as Audrey (Wearing, I: 136). Henry Irving’s As You Like It opened on November 3 at the Lyceum Theatre (London) and ran until November 12. Ada Rehan played Rosalind and John Drew, Orlando. The rest of the cast included James Lewis as Touchstone, George Clarke and Ralph Nisbet as Jacques, Adelaide Prince as Celia, and Isabel Irving as Audrey (Wearing, I: 164).
1894 Leonard Outram’s production of As You Like It at the Prince of Wales’s Theatre (London) must of have been a bit of a novelty: the entire cast was female. Ada Ferrar played Orlando, Naomi Hope played Jacques, Frances Ivor played Rosalind, Gladys Folliott played the wrestler, and Sophie Larkin played Touchstone. This production played from February 27 to March 14 (Wearing, I: 379-80).
1894 Augustin Daly mounted a more traditional As You Like It on April 30 at Daly’s Theatre (London). John Craig appeared as Orlando, Ada Rehan as Rosalind, George Clarke and Lloyd Lowndes as Jacques, James Lewis as Touchstone, and Sybil Carlisle as Celia. The play ran for eight performances (Wearing, I: 390-1).
1896 George Alexander mounted a production of As You Like It that ran for 115 performances; the play opened on December 2, 1896, at the St. James’s Theatre (London) and closed on March 20, 1897. The principle players were Julia Neilson as Rosalind, George Alexander as Orlando, W. H. Vernon and H. H. Vincent as Jaques, Henry V. Esmond as Touchstone, Kate Phillips as Audrey, Fay Davis as Celia, and H. B. Irving (the son of Henry Irving) as Oliver (Wearing, I: 614).
1900 Ben Greet played Touchstone, A. S. Homewood Orlando, and Edith Wynne Matthison Rosalind in three matinee performances of As You Like It at the Comedy Theatre (London) in February (Wearing, I: 8).
1900 On April 23 Frank Benson and his company began the annual Shakespeare Festival at Stratford-upon-Avon. Among the players were Marion Terry as Rosalind in As You Like It and John Coleman as Pericles. The company also performed Othello, Macbeth, and The Merchant of Venice (Loney, I: 3)
1900 Alfred B. Cross played Orlando in a production of As You Like It at the Court Theatre (London) in November. Jaques was played by Norman Forbes, Touchstone by Harry Paulton, and Rosalind by Constance Stuart (Wearing, I: 57).
1901 Frank Benson’s company gave ten performances of As You Like It at the Comedy Theatre (London); the play ran from February 27 to March 11 and Benson played Orlando. The cast also included Constance as Rosalind, George R. Weir as Touchstone, and Henry Ainley as Jaques (Wearing, I: 78).
1904 April 18 marked Frank Benson’s opening of the Stratford season with The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and As You Like It, as well as eleven more of Shakespeare’s plays. The festival lasted for three weeks this time rather than the usual two (Loney, I: 22).
1907 On March 4 Ben Greet’s company returned to New York City’s Garden Theatre. The plays in repertory included Macbeth, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Merchant of Venice. Among Greet’s players were Sybil Thorndyke, Julia Perkins, and Sidney Greenstreet (Loney, I: 37).
1909 Gerald Lawrence and Fay Davis open their Shakespeare season on April 12 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. The plays included As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night (Loney, I: 49).
1910 Starting on February 7, E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe play for six weeks at the Academy of Music, New York City. Included in the repertory are Hamlet, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night (Loney, I: 53).
1910 At the first Stratford-upon-Avon Summer Shakespeare Festival, Benson presented The Winter’s Tale, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Henry V, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Richard II, Hamlet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Loney, I: 54).
1910 On December 5, E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe opened a season of Shakespearean repertory at the Broadway Theatre, New York City. Among the plays were Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It (Loney, I: 54).
1911 On April 17, the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival opened with The Merry Wives of Windsor. This year Frank Benson also offered The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Richard III (Loney, I: 158).
1911 On May 11 As You Like It opened at London’s New Theatre with Phyllis Nielson-Terry as Rosalind (Loney, I: 158).
1911 The London Shakespeare Festival opened on May 22 at His Majesty’s Theatre with Herbert Beerbohm Tree‘s Julius Caesar, followed by Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton‘s As You Like It. Next came The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. Frank Benson presented The Taming of the Shrew, Tree revived his Henry VIII, and the Festival closed with Benson’s Richard III and on July 3, the final night, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Loney, I: 158).
1911 E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe opened their season at the Broadway Theatre, New York City. In the repertory were Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night. They returned on November 20 and added As You Like It to the list (Loney, I: 158).
1911 On July 22, Stratford’s second summer season began; this is the year that Baliol Holloway debuted with the Bensonians. The plays performed are A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V, Richard II, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet,and the Tempest (Loney, I: 159).
1913 Frank Benson opened the Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare Festival with Richard II; the troupe also performed Henry IV, Part 2, Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Hamlet this season. Added attractions were William Poel’s production of Troilus and Cressida, with Edith Evans and Hermione Gingold, as well as Poel himself as the performers, and a presentation of Henry V by the students of Stratford’s King Edward VI Grammar School (Loney, I: 68).
1913 Frank Benson’s summer season of Shakespeare’s plays opened on August 2 with The Merchant of Venice; other plays performed that season were As You Like It, Hamlet, King John, Richard II, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part 2 (Loney, I: 68).
1914 On March 16 at the Hudson Theatre, New York City, Margaret Anglin began a run of Shakespeare plays; she directed and played in As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and The Taming of the Shrew (Loney, I: 72).
1914 Another annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival opened with A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Frank Benson’s company was still on tour in the United States, so Patrick Kirwan directed this year’s offerings: Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, As You Like It, and The Merchant of Venice (Loney, I: 72). Frank Benson returned from the United States to direct the Stratford Summer Festival. He opened the four-week festval with Much Ado About Nothing. The company also presented Hamlet, Richard II, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, and Romeo and Juliet (Loney, I: 73).