As You Like It is a joyous celebration of love in all its games, trials and confusions. Rosalind, daughter of an exiled Duke, falls in love with Orlando, a young man at odds with his jealous older brother. Individually they find their lives at risk, and as a consequence flee from court to the forest of Arden. To protect her identity, Rosalind disguises herself as a young shepherd, Ganymede. It is in this disguise that she and Orlando meet once again. Finding Orlando lovesick and writing bad poetry to leave on trees around the forest, “Ganymede” offers a cure to this lovesickness; they will allow Orlando to “woo” them in the guise of Rosalind, thereby teaching him how to be a better and more reliable partner for the future. In the festive, Woodstock-inspired forest of Arden, anything can happen, including the miraculous reconciliation of feuding brothers, the restoration of a fallen duke, and the resurrection of the long-lost Rosalind.

It is said that Shakespeare is “not for an age, but for all time”, and As You Like It is the third joint Westlake production from the famous bard.  A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2016) and Socially Distanced Shakespeare (2021) both won the Outstanding Play category at the Auckland Live Showdown Awards.