CVNC: An Online Arts Journal in North Carolina

Theatre

Montford Park Players: As You Like It

( Fri., May. 6, 2022 - Sat., Jun. 4, 2022 )

Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 92 Gay Street, Asheville, NC 28801

Program

The plot of As You Like It is typical of a Shakespearean comedy, involving mistaken identities, angry lovers, and much, much confusion. Rosalind and her cousin Celia escape from Celia's tyrant father into the Forest of Arden and find Orlando, Rosalind's love, who has run away from his own tyrant brother. Disguised as a boy shepherd and calling herself Ganymede, Rosalind convinces Orlando to woo her under the guise of "curing" him of his love. Rosalind reveals she is a woman, is reunited with her banished father, and marries Orlando during a group wedding at the end of the play. The play was first performed around 1599 at the Globe Theatre and was very well received. It has since become one of The Bard’s most-performed and most beloved comedies.