Product Details

• Actors: Brendon Hughes, Jack Laskey, Trevor Martin, Jamie Parker, Naomi Frederick
• Format: NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (DTS-HD 5.1), English (Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Bbc / Opus
• DVD Release Date: June 29, 2010
• Run Time: 149 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003H0ZGV8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #90,704 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Thea Sharrock's irresistible new production of Shakespeare's popular
romantic comedy stirs wit, sentiment, intrigue and love into a
charming confection which challenges the traditional rules of romance.
At its heart, a feisty but feminine Rosalind (Naomi Frederick), in love
with the endearingly naïve Orlando (Jack Laskey), uses her disguise as
Ganymede to counsel him playfully in the art of wooing. Distraction is
provided by Dominic Rowan, a remarkably funny Touchstone, and
Tim McMullan, whose sonorous tones are perfectly suited to the
lugubrious wit of Jaques. Filmed in High Definition and true surround
sound.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare As you Like It DVD Opus Arte OA 1032 D, August 2, 2010

By 

E. S. Wilks (Hockessin, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: William Shakespeare: As You Like It (DVD)

Thea Sharrocks's "As You Like It" is a welcome addition to filmed versions of the play. The most accessible films are the BBC/TimeLife version from the late 1970s and the 2006 Kenneth Branagh film set in Japan both of which suffer from the effort to make the Forest of Arden a realistic rather than magical place of our imagination. The plainness of the Globe stage allows Shakespeare's words and characters to transport us from the corrupt, violent court to the pastoral world of the forest where all are welcomed and accepted for who they are. The transformation from court to forest is simply shown by the removal of black draperies from the columns to reveal plain wood 'trees,' which allow us to enter a world of music and tranquility.
The production is spirited and lively and the actors certainly seem to be enjoying it. There is tremendous sense of fun. The only slightly sour note is the unnecessarily violent expulsion of Oliver by Duke Frederick.
As Rosalind, one of the most demanding female roles in Shakespeare, Naomi Frederick performs superbly, portraying a woman of wit and intelligence while maintaining a balance between femininity and masculinity. Moving easily between Rosalind and Ganymede, she is in control while indulging in witty banter with Orlando but reveals her feminine vulnerability to Aliena as soon as he has gone. She is ably supported by Laura Rogers as Celia/Aliena, who conveys a warmth and sense of humor not often seen in this role. Jack Laskey as Orlando is suitably 'Byronic' as the romantic hero who needs to learn from Rosalind that his unrealistic view of love can lead only to disillusionment.
The Jaques of Tim McMullan is a fresh interpretation of the part. The "Seven Ages Of Man" speech is meaningfully delivered (he even delights the audience by picking out a 'whining schoolboy' from their midst). Dominic Rowan's highly energetic Touchstone is a great crowd pleaser whose physical presentation of the "lie seven times removed" evokes much laughter. Of the other minor characters, the old shepherd Corin stands out. Sean Kerns invests him with dignity confirming the worth of the simple life of a shepherd. The songs which are an integral apart of the play are enhanced by the pleasant voice of Peter Gale.
In addition to the filmed performance, a cast gallery and famous speeches are included on the disc. These extra features should prove useful for educational purposes.
This video is a thoroughly entertaining production of one of Shakespeare's happiest plays. I recommend it highly.
Irene Farrance/TW

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars O Wonderfu!, August 17, 2010

By 

Albany Reader (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: William Shakespeare: As You Like It (DVD)

O wonderful, wonderful! And most wonderful, wonderful! And yet again wonderful! And after that out of all whooping! This is such a joyful production of As You Like It, which is perhaps Shakespeare's most joyful play. E.S. Wilks' review expresses better than I can much of what is excellent about this performance. (After watching this DVD, I began to fantasize about whether Shakespeare, having created the marvelous Jacques with his "melancholy of [his] own, compounded of many simples," wondered how the character would fare in a tragedy and wrote Hamlet. I caught a glimpse of Jacques as an older Hamlet who, in an alternative universe, had decided not to return to the Danish court after his abortive voyage to England.)
Filmed live performances often have an archival feel to them; if the production was good, you're glad to have it, but it's a far cry from being there. In this DVD, the audience is part of the set and the performance. (And after watching the frightening aging of the Shakespeare audience in this country, it was a joy to see so many young faces in the audience obviously enjoying themselves.) The editing and use of multiple cameras is superb. This is not just a record of a live performance; it is a work of art in its own right. Although performed in Elizabethan costume in the replica of the Globe Theater (complete with groundings leaning on the stage), it is far from a museum piece. The jazz music during the "intermission" and curtain calls worked well. Instead of a faithful representation of what a performance might have looked and sounded like in 17th century London, we get an impression of what it might have felt like to be a member of that audience. All the humor and humanity is returned to the play.
If you have any interest in seeing this play, do choose this DVD rather than the leaden and mangled Branagh version or the overly reverential and unfunny BBC one. Enjoy it for yourself, and then leave it around for your children to find. Perhaps they can be surprised into the beginning of a lifelong love before the school system has had a chance to bore them into a permanent hatred of Shakespeare.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relatively good for a stage production; makes more changes than I would have liked, September 17, 2010

By 

Andrew Raker (PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: William Shakespeare: As You Like It (DVD)

RATING:

My rating of 4 stars represents how I view the quality of this stage production in relation to other stage productions of plays which I have viewed. Therefore, one should not compare my rating to motion picture productions, since I employ a much more rigorous rating system to motion pictures.


INTRODUCTION:

The production is a stage production filmed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in front of an audience. The theatre attempts to recreate, as much as possible, the design and feel of Shakespeare's day.

From time to time throughout the play, Touchstone and Jaques engage the audience. For example, when giving his famous "all the world's a stage" recital, Jaques looks directed into the faces of some adolescent British school boys who are standing near the stage as he recites "then the whining schoolboy with his satchel / And shining morning face, creeping like snail / unwillingly to school." Clearly, the actors and actresses attempt to keep the audience involved, as much as possible.


STAGING:

This stage production plays up Sir Oliver Martext as a blind, incompetent idiot. When exiting the stage, Sir Oliver bumps into a tree and says, "Excuse me" to it.

Corin is played as a simple shepherd, who has dignity. This production conveys that Corin enjoys his job as a shepherd even if he cannot outperform Touchstone's wit.

William is also portrayed as a very stupid man. While I knew this from the script, after watching this stage production, I saw a portrayal of a mentally challenged man who cannot correctly give a flower to the woman he is desperate a touch. (Williams presents the flower to Audrey upside down.)

Touchstone's character is also played up. He definitely is an articulate, comic character in this stage production, who dominates a number of scenes with his wit and humor. Touchstone's relationship with Aubrey is particularly humorous. The stage production certainly conveys the idea in the play that "for thy [their] loving voyage / is but for two months" (V.5.180-181). When reading the play, I really did not completely grasp just how great a libertine Touchstone could be.

Almost immediately after kissing Ganymede, Orlando discovers that Ganymede is really Rosalind. (Yet, Orlando still pretends he does not know. As viewers, we know because Orlando begins pronouncing the name Rosalind a bit differently and gives a few other subtle hints, which make the audience laugh.)

In this stage production, Ganymede (Rosalind) begins reading Phoebe's letter in front of Silvius until she reaches the portion in which Phoebe's shows that she is still in love with Ganymede. Then, Silvius snatches the letter and begins reading the parts of the letter that demonstrate Phoebe's infatuation with Ganymede. Because of this switch, I internally questioned whether Rosalind was really reading the letter or making up passages by which Phoebe criticizes Ganymede, in order to benefit Silvius' self-esteem.


Certain actors play multiple roles in the play:
Amiens plays Martext
Oliver de Bois plays William.


EDITING/DELETIONS:

The order of a few scenes is also switched. For example, the audience is introduced to Rosalind and Celia before the scene in which Oliver and Charles communicate.

The production skips quite a few lines throughout the play, including the lines where Ganymede claims to be a magician. However, I do not believe excluding those lines harmed the quality of the production.