Apricity Theatre’s ‘As You Like It’ features all woman and non-binary cast

Apricity Theatre will be bringing their adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It to The Elmgrove Centre on July 15-16, as part of Bristol Shakespeare Festival 2022.

It follows in the wake of the company’s recent productions Between the Armies and The Breach, also platforming female and LGBTQIA+ voices.

Directed by Matilda Dickinson and featuring an all woman and non-binary cast, the show is intended to be the “celebration of togetherness we all desperately need after the last few years”.

Dickinson spoke to Bristol24/7 along with creative director of Apricity, CJ Turner-McMullan, to share some insights on the growth of the company, exploring gender and performance, and why it felt apposite to stage a comedy this time around:

Can you give us an insight into the background and evolution of Apricity Theatre?

Turner-McMullan: “Apricity started out during mine and Hannah’s third year at Bath Spa University. Clearly writing our dissertations wasn’t enough work for us! We staged our first production, Morbo Amoris, at The Museum of Bath at Work and ever since we’ve had a fascination with found and non-traditional theatre spaces.

“Now Hannah has moved on to other things and Matilda has joined the company, bringing a whole new bunch of ideas, devising techniques, and songwriting skills to the table. Our work has always had a strong grounding in movement and vocal work to create dynamic images and emotional journeys, from acapella folk songs to 80s-inspired dance numbers, so her involvement is helping take everything to the next level.

“For the past few years many of our adaptations were linked with my PhD research into Shakespeare and gender performance. They explored ideas of masculinity, queerness, identity, and loads of other intensely political stuff. Coming out of lockdown we needed something a little less heavy, and what better than a classic comedy to mark Matilda’s first production as our co-creative director!”

Aké Kibona as Orlando in rehearsal for As You Like It – photo: Apricity Theatre

What is it about Shakespeare that makes it ripe for experimental and contemporary adaptation?

Dickinson: “People say Shakespeare is universal, which isn’t necessarily true. The language can feel impenetrable and the ideas can be archaic, but that’s what makes it fun to play with. Sometimes the smallest addition or cut can completely change the meaning of a scene.

“Shakespeare’s significance in British history and culture also means his work carries a lot of political weight, making it a perfect tool for questioning, disrupting, and challenging traditional ways of thinking.

“We’re big fans of picking up Shakespeare plays and dropping them into a whole other time period. Our 2019 adaptation of Henry V – The Breach, set the play in a modern-day East London apartment, using the change of setting as a way into conversations about class, consent, and how war has shaped our understanding of history.

“The setting of Matilda’s As You Like It is more ambiguous than that, providing some escapsim from everything going on in the world at the moment.”

Tiffany Rhodes as Celia and Ebony Cassie as Rosalind – photo: Apricity Theatre

How did As You Like It emerge as a contender for the next Apricity show? Can you describe your personal history with the play?

Dickinson: “For my 9th birthday I was given a DVD of As You Like It. It was the first piece of Shakespeare other than Romeo and Juliet I had seen and I was obsessed. I saw the silly nature of the play, and loved the romance and utter joy that radiated from each of the characters.

“My Nana, who always encouraged my acting and theatre making used to take me to a lot of outdoor theatre and, knowing As You Like It was my favourite Shakespeare, took me to see a live outdoor production. I was horrified. So many wonderful characters were cut to give the four actors less quick changes, meaning so many fantastic scenes were cut too!

“Since then I have been determined to make my own version. Originally we decided to make As You Like It because we both liked the play and I already had ideas for the script, but then of course, we went into lockdown. We continued to work on the production during this period, formatting the script and refining ideas.

“It became more and more clear as Covid rampaged that we need to inject a bit of joy into the world. As You Like It has become this for us – a celebration of love, life and our bodies, thanking ourselves and others for making it through an awful couple of years.”

Ri Baroche as Charles, Amy Harris as Duke Frederick, and Aké Kibona as Orlando – photo: Apricity Theatre

How have rehearsals been going so far? Is your cast new to the company?

Dickinson: “Rehearsals have been such a wholesome space. We really champion looking after actors’ mental health, so have daily check-ins and are constantly singing (there are a lot of songs in this show) so the room feels like a lovely space for creating silly and soulful content.

“We have one actor that is a recurring face in Apricity and two that have been familiar to the company for a while, so having them makes the room feel like a little family. We then have three completely new faces joining the company who are so incredibly talented and are definitely giving the piece a burst of energy. I’m extremely grateful that they’ve thrown their whole being into these rehearsals and are really up for anything we throw at them, including turning into goats.”

The tour will include some outdoor shows. What is the impact of al fresco performance, for audiences and actors alike?

Turner-McMullan: “Yes, we’re playing at a mix of indoor and outdoor venues, so we’ve had to design and stage everything with both kinds of spaces in mind. There is no tech, which means a very different way of working. It puts a lot more pressure on the actors to set the tone of different scenes, and to keep up the energy in high-impact moments.

“It’s made everything more collaborative – the sound design is made up of live music and vocals, which designer and composer Finn MacNeil has got the whole company involved in developing.

“I’ve done a few outdoor shows before and I’m always astounded by the sheer determination of audiences as they stay put through rain, wind, or blinding sun. It adds a whole new level to the shared experience. When a seagull swoops in to fight the actors for a piece of bread that’s the key prop in a scene, they just have to go along with it, and the audience’s appreciation for that feeds the joy of those moments. Luckily at the Elmgrove Centre we’ll have a roof over our heads, but we’re still prepared for anything!”

Tiffany Rhodes as Celia, Alice Victoria Tripp as Touchstone, and Ebony Cassie as Rosalind – photo: Apricity Theatre

Lastly, what are you looking forward to at this year’s Bristol Shakespeare Festival?

Dickinson: I’ve seen that the festival has made musical versions of Macbeth and Julius Caesar which look amazing. I’m a sucker for a musical so I am therefore super intrigued to see how they’ve ‘Rogers and Hammerstein’d the bard.”

Turner-McMullan: “Some of our friends are also bringing shows to the festival. The Scullions’ Queen Lear and Fire and Air Theatre’s A Moving Grove sound like super interesting concepts, definitely ones I’ll be checking out (if there’s time around all the goat herding!)”

William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, presented by Apricity Theatre, is at The Elmgrove Centre on July 15-16. Ticket links to both shows, as well as a Shakespeare and voice acting workshop, are available via www.bristolshakespearefestival.org.uk.

Main photo: Apricity Theatre

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