As You Like It (Classic Stage Company) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (139)
See it if you want to see a stripped down pure rendition of this most popular comedy.
Don't see it if you are waiting for something brilliant from John Doyle.
See it if A delightful interpretation of Shakespeare with music and dance. Some outstanding performances
Don't see it if if you expect more than 5 minutes of Ellen Burstyn
See it if for a more modern funky production of a Shakespeare play with music. Well staged and acted with Ellen Burstyn in a minor role
Don't see it if you only want traditional Shakespeare
See it if If you enjoy Shakespeare and like intimate shows
Don't see it if If you want a strong score or big sets Read more
See it if you like different productions of Shakespeare, want music in it, & want to see Ms. Burstyn
Don't see it if don't want the script cut or bare -bones scenery; want period costumes; want to feel romantic connections with the couples Read more
See it if Top notch acting, loaded with energy and believable characters. Cabell is a standout as Rosalind.
Don't see it if Do not have patience to carefully listen. I found it a little difficult getting through the first 20 minutes, but it then picked up.
See it if you're interested in seeing an abbreviated version of the play with some incidental music by Stephen Schwartz. Some lovely vignettes.
Don't see it if you like your Shakespeare big with a large cast and elaborate scenery and costumes.
See it if You like simplified Shakespeare done well, with little pretense, and a light touch.
Don't see it if You’re looking for a star turn. We were excited to see Ellen Burstyn, and she was perfectly fine, but had very little to do.
Critic Reviews (38)
"It looks and feels as distinctive as any Doyle production...It is also very confusingly staged...A number of things either don’t happen on stage or happen slightly off stage, with people running hither and thither, which seems like willful and empty rebellions against staging rather than adding to audience pleasure and understanding...It is the melancholy truth-teller Jaques that steals the show...You hang on Ellyn Burstyn’s dry and careworn wisdom."
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"The story’s a little muddy, but director John Doyle and company still fill this trip to Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden with lots of happy sightseeing...The cast all contribute to an eminently watchable production even if the storytelling sometimes seems muddled...The language–abounding in wit and poetry–begins to sound more archaic than usual...Nevertheless, it is a production packed with goodies...The songs give the show yet another extra frisson."
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"Mr. Doyle does little to distinguish space, resulting in a somewhat monotonous staging; the shift to the forest is indicated through lighting changes, the wrestling match shoved offstage, and the burden left almost entirely on the shoulders of his actors. What a relief that they rise to the challenge."
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"A mild-mannered affair – a passable production of limited enchantments. It’s energised by jazzy songs by Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz, but otherwise it favours understatement and fails to capture the play’s joy...As buoyant as these tunes are, the music plays a small role overall — we miss it when it’s gone...The cast, solid actors all, are stronger at the drama than the comedy and the lovestruck couples lack chemistry."
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“Doyle’s overall approach is flattening, abstract, and ‘dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage’...He flattens the rhythm out of much of the text, either driving past the jokes or pounding them into the ground. Regarding erotic spark, in this play full of love and gender ambiguity, he supplies next to none, so that his intermissionless hour and 45 minutes of playing time seem more plot recitation than comic romance...Given its castful of gifted performers, that shouldn’t be the case."
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"There’s a lot that’s mismatched in this production...In fact, there’s downright perplexity along with plenty of charm...The costumes are a mixed bag...Same for the music...Major kudos to Cabell for being not only comprehensible while speed-speaking but actually captivating...The remainder of the cast has highs and lows...There are many charms to this new production. But I say to Doyle: Take ten more minutes of our lives, or maybe fifteen...And the work will be the better for it."
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"Doyle has slashed the text to its barest of bones and reduced scenic demands...The approach…has made Shakespeare’s breeziest, most joyful romantic comedy even breezier…The troupe is a true company, laughing at each other’s jokes and mistakes, encouraging and challenging one another…The staging and actors’ diction are sharp and unadorned, so that even with gaps the storytelling is clear…It’s not challenging or innovative, but it’s warm, inviting, and utterly lovely.”
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"Doyle’s vision unfolds over 100 continuous minutes, made possible by judicious editing that retains the play’s witty interlacing of disguises and mistaken identity...This qualifies as bare-bones Shakespeare, but it retains a degree of charm. Played up close and personal to the audience that remains in half-light throughout, it is unpretentious and high-spirited."
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