“As You Like It” at the Globe Theatre

Maryam Philpott on the South Bank
★★★★☆
23 August 2026

Relocated to the seventeenth-century court, co-directors Sean Holmes and Charlie Josephine envisage a representative world for their new production of As You Like It staged at the Globe Theatre. While designer Paul Wills’ backdrop consists of a series of interlocking whiteboards onto which scenic artist Emily Carne quickly draws the slightly less magical Forest of Arden, the Globe’s costume makers steal the show with beautiful dresses, elaborate frock coats, and even a comedic but detailed shepherdess outfit for the disguised Celia. A thoughtful version of the play and its overlapping romances, the audience can only agree with Celia’s proclamation: “I like this place, / And willingly could waste my time in it.”

Lola Shalam as Rosalind.
Photo credit: Marc Brenner.

The courtly world that Holmes and Josephine create is one of violence, paranoia, and no visible means of escape, the doors at the rear of the stage barred to the courtiers, confining them and only permitting an exit through the assembled crowd. The grandness of Duke Frederick’s court won by usurpation contrasts beautifully with the simplicity of his older brother Duke Senior’s pastoral abode in the Forest of Arden where eventually leaves and later blossom appear as the treachery is resolved and love itself flowers for the multiple couples.

And there is great entertainment drawn from the quadruple love affairs being conducted under the boughs of the forest, crossing a whole spectrum of class, gender, and romantic boundaries. Some like Touchstone and Audrey built on lust, while others are won through poetry and constancy. But As You Like It asks the audience to earn its happy resolutions, allowing Rosalind in particular but also Celia, Phoebe, and to an extent Audrey to opine the frustrating behaviours of men who are inconstant, won’t take no for an answer, and are clearly unworthy of them. While the second half of Holmes and Josephine’s production is a tad sluggish, there is much enjoyment derived from the presentation of each distinct couple and their rocky road to matrimony.

Lola Shalam’s Rosalind is heady and in love, head-over-heels for Orlando from the moment they meet, resulting in plenty of awkward moments both as herself and in her Ganymede disguise as she tries to win him over, offering plenty of relatable comedy as she says the wrong thing, forgetting her boyish apparel. But Shalam always retains her girlish excitement, constantly bringing the conversation around to Orlando when alone with Celia and finding all the comic notes as she fights off the ardent Phoebe.

Josephine’s Orlando is also excellent, speaking the verse with a conversational quality that brings great clarity to the narrative and wins early support for his character. And although noble, he becomes something of a working-class hero, engaging with the forest characters as an equal, earning Rosalind’s affections.

Jonnie Broadbent has great fun as a lusty Touchstone, retaining his elaborate wig (impressive work all round by Gilly Church), while Gracie Oddie-James as Celia and Molly Madigan as Phoebe flesh out small female roles with excellent performances.

This production of As You Like It makes easy work of Shakespeare’s complex narrative full of disguises, misunderstandings, various degrees of exile, snobbery, and even a wrestling match. Time well wasted indeed.