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As You Like It: The reimagined queer take on the Shakespeare classic in 14 images

"An imagined world of what Elizabethan dress might have been had it not had to follow the rules."

By Alastair James

As You Like It
Isabel Adomakoh Young as Orlando, Nina Bowers as Rosalind, and Macy-Jacob Seelochan as Celia (Image: Ellie Kurttz)

A new production of the Shakespeare classic As You Like It has reimagined it in a new queer way.

The Globe’s production sees rules broken, world’s reimagined and discoveries aplenty.

A synopsis reads: “Shakespeare’s joyous comedy unfolds in the Forest or Arden, an exuberant tale of romance and redemption. Rosalind and Celia are on the run and in disguise, encountering love of all kinds, between all kinds of people, from the loyal love between family to the sudden love of strangers.”

Discussing how they incorporated queer elements into the show, director Ellen McDougall said she wanted to show “rules of how to be in the world and be with each other are being undone and reimagined and reformed.”

Explaining the character’s journeys into spaces that allow them to be more free, costume designer Max Johns added that “The forest becomes an imagined world of what Elizabethan dress might have been had it not had to follow the rules.

“The forest is much more queer space, a space of discovery of freedom, of exploration.”

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The Company in As You Like It (Image: Ellie Kurttz)

As well as featuring queer actors, the show also adds their experiences into their characters and also combines elements of drag.

Shakespeare explored queer relationships within the play itself. However, queer artists such as playwright Travis Alabanza have bolstered the production.

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Tonderai Munyeva as Duke Senior in As You Like It at Shakespeare’s Globe (Image: Ellie Kurttz)

As You Like It is playing at Shakespeare’s Globe from Wednesday 30 August to Sunday 29 October. Tickets are available here.