Overview

William Shakespeare's exuberant comedy As You Like It is his playful take on the Renaissance tradition of pastoral romance, edited by H.J. Oliver with an introduction by Katherine Duncan-Jones. 'All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players'. When Rosalind is banished by her uncle Duke Frederick, who has usurped her father's throne, she flees to the forest of Arden where her exiled father holds court. There, dressed as a boy to avoid discovery, she encounters the man she loves - Orlando, similarly forced into exile by his older brother Oliver - and resolves to remain in disguise to test his feelings for her. A gloriously sunny comedy, As You Like It is an exuberant combination of concealed identities and verbal jousting, reconciliations and multiple weddings.