Juliet England: A captioned showing of As You Like It in Shakespeare’s birthplace

Sitting in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon on a warm Saturday afternoon, there’s a moment to enjoy those few seconds of hushed anticipation before curtain up on this captioned performance of the Bard’s pastoral comedy As You Like It. (Not that there’s an actual curtain. And, in fact, ‘hush’ may have been a tad over-optimistic, since, while it wouldn’t have affected me for obvious reasons, it seems that someone sitting nearby had deemed it appropriate to settle down with a family-sized tube of crunchy Pringles before kick-off.)

Anyway, I reflected as we watched Orlando (David Ajao) sway gently on the onstage swing ahead of the first scene, on what a luxury this was. As someone who has previously come close to remortgaging my home to afford theatre tickets, only to leave having heard a grand total of three words, I luxuriated in knowing that the captions would be there on their electronic screens, either side of the stage, to help out.

I’d started reading As You Like It in preparation, although, to my shame, I had barely proceeded beyond Act One by the time of my visit.

I’d previously been to one captioned show, years ago, and I’m pretty sure that was the Morecambe and Wise vehicle The Play What I Wrote. (Rather less nuanced and complex than the Bard.)

As it turned out, speed-reading Shakespeare was more tiring than I’d anticipated, and by the interval sorely needed a caffeine jolt and a break. Admittedly, I’d have done well to have read those other four acts in advance.

And, while certainly no expert, I am at least passingly familiar with some of our greatest ever dramatist’s works, and some aspects of Shakespearean language, yet still sometimes found it something of a challenge to keep up.

In places, the house lights were kept on, and this did make reading slightly harder, with the brighter light making the lettering of the captions stand out less.

However, I couldn’t help but reflect that, without the captions, I’d have caught no more than a handful of words, and the intricacies of the plot (which do not need recounting here) would have remained a mystery. My hearing seems to have declined in recent weeks, and so I was pretty much 100% reliant on the words on the screens.

As You Like It, one of Shakespeare’s consistently most performed comedies, has a fairly large cast, and its relatively complex plot really drives the whole thing, so I imagine being able to read the words was also helpful for hearing members of the audience.

Interestingly, my (hearing) companion remarked afterwards that the captions did not interfere with or detract from his enjoyment of the theatrical experience.

And what a theatrical experience it was. As You Like It was magnificent from start to finish. After all, one would expect nothing less from the RSC. This was an almost exhaustingly energetic production that made extensive use of a large stage area. It was performed on more than one level, with actors entering from various corners of the space and through the audience – often at full pelt.

Lucy Phelps made a truly terrifically feisty Rosalind, and together with the superb Ajao conveyed the first flush of youthful love brilliantly. Meanwhile, Leo Wan played the jester Touchstone in firecracker mode.

And, of course, it was a genuine delight to see deaf actor Charlotte Arrowsmith (pictured, right, in white dress) in the role of Audrey, the goatherd who eventually marries Touchstone. She signed her role, and brought plenty to it in the way of energy, body language and facial expression.

This version remained broadly loyal to the original text while making it relevant to the modern viewer. There were, for example, moments of audience participation, such as getting one of our number on stage to ‘help’ by delivering a single-word line. (This was met with the hilarious onstage quip ‘Ooh, are you classically trained?’) Equally, the physical aspects of the comedy were brought out as much as possible.

A central theme of As You Like It is, apart from that of love in all its guises, is the bang-up-to-date one of gender fluidity, and this version certainly focused on this, for example casting Sophie Stanton in the role of Jaques, a discontented lord and traveller. Stanton excelled in the part, and got to deliver one of the Bard’s most famous speeches, the All the World’s a Stage monologue.

At the same time, Emily Johnstone was well cast in the male role of Le Beau, an attendant to Duke Frederick.

In a world that consistently seems to have gone utterly mad, the escape to the idyllic Forest of Arden for a couple of hours was certainly a welcome treat. Not least when the captions were there to guide you through the thicket.

As You Like It plays at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, until August 31, before touring. For each production, it stages at least one captioned performance.

Juliet England is a freelance writer with a hearing loss.

Photo credit: Topher McGrillis, c. RSC