As You Like It (Classic Stage Company) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (139)
See it if You like innovative Shakespeare productions that are fully theatrical.
Don't see it if you don't like Shakespeare, or are a Shakespeare purist who only likes traditional productions. Read more
See it if A truly fun staging of a popular Shakespeare comedy. Class Stage Company always delivers a great production.
Don't see it if It's not a very traditional staging, featuring original songs for the production. Purists and traditionalists may be less enthused.
See it if It's a truly amazing experience to be able too sit at the feet of so many theatre masters in such a small off Broadway Theatre đźŽ. Brovo !
Don't see it if You don't like the bard.
See it if You’re open to a fresh take on Shakespeare with song, spirited energy, humor and passion without losing any of the original play
Don't see it if You need your Shakespeare unblemished or just don’t like Shakespeare
See it if you are a Shakespeare fan or want to see a new take on an old creation
Don't see it if you can't sit through a play with no intermission or can't follow Shakespeare's intricate plotlines
See it if You like new versions of Shakespeare that are focused on the words and actors. Love this intimate version with fantastic actors.
Don't see it if You want to see classically staged Shakespeare. This one is lotsa fun.
See it if You love Shakespeare. It's worth it just to hear Ellen Burstyn recite the famed "7 ages of man" monologue. plus the Stephen Schwartz music
Don't see it if You have a weak bladder - it's an hour and 45 minutes - no intermission.
See it if You enjoy Shakespear performed by a talented cast. Well acted, funny and very enjoyable
Don't see it if You don't like Shakespear or small theaters
Critic Reviews (38)
"So cut down it has bled out...You can get a glimmer of what Doyle is after: a plain, vernacular presentation of the text by actors who look and sound like today...Admirable as this approach may seem in the abstract, there is something stingy about it in practice. All pageantry is lost...The deeper problem here is what happens when there is no style, or rather when the lack of style becomes a style in itself...It feels wrong to blame the cast for what is evidently Doyle’s doing."
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"The principal characters and speeches remain, but without the tension and texture that cohere them. The result is a lot of coming and going that rarely makes best use of its ensemble cast...What’s missing is the weight that can give romance its footing. There are moments to like here, but not enough to love."
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"Perhaps in part because the first song doesn’t come along until a half-hour into the proceedings, Doyle’s 'As You Like It' gets off to a slowish, oddly unspecific start...Truth to tell, I never really thought that Doyle’s underlying concept for the production registered with full clarity, nor did it seem that he was entirely at ease with Shakespeare’s comic side. Fortunately, the rest of the cast is full of fine performers, and the second half of the show took wing and gave much pleasure."
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"Rarely have I seen such widespread joy cross so many faces like the wave at a football game as I observed during John Doyle’s fleet, exuberant, giddy-making production. And for good reason...The comedy is robust, the gravitas is deep yet not portentous...The heavy linguistic lifting is handled with ethereal bliss by a trio of experts...There’s magic in the air, and then, in just 90 too-brief minutes, it’s gone."
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"Between life-or-death exiles and jumbled romances, 'As You Like It' is built to spark a gamut of emotions. Alas, CSC’s revival of Shakespeare’s rom-com fires so few of them...Burstyn's take on the famous 'all the world’s a stage speech' comes and goes without making a mark. That’s pretty much par for the course for director Doyle’s staging...The show has a couple bright spots. Music by Schwartz for the song-stuffed play enhance the mood. And Doyle cleverly conjures the Arden woods."
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"If a production falls flat in a forest, does anyone hear it?...The question springs to mind while watching John Doyle's 'As You Like It'...Whenever things threaten to become tedious, which is often, Doyle has the actors engage in such bits of business as sweeping the playing area or kicking around a soccer ball...The performances are all over the map, with the standouts being Hannah Cabell's feisty Rosalind and Quincy Tyler Bernstine's appealing Celia."
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"Doyle’s textual cuts are so numerous that the play becomes too choppy. The transition from the royal court to the woods is also muted due to the bare, all-purpose scenic design. Nevertheless, the intimate production is mostly enjoyable, possessing a speed and seamlessness that suits the play’s whimsical nature. The audience receives a good deal of attention, and one lucky guy is even selected for a cameo. The cast is excellent."
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"Doyle seems to have eschewed comedy in favor of a host of recycled ideas, leaving his actors to fend for themselves...The major problem with this production is that, for a comedy, it's just not that funny. Doyle embellishes the play with his usual kabuki-like flourishes...Sadly, Doyle neglects to refine the comic beats...Original songs fail to inject much levity...The result is a middling production of a second-rate comedy. But at a zippy 1 hour, 45 minutes, it goes by quickly enough."
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