Forward July 2016 | Page 14

SENIOR SCHOOL As you like it Year 12 Drama production As You Like It by William Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Reynolds In Term 1, the Year 12 and two Year 11 Drama students were privileged to have expert theatre director, Peter Reynolds, from the United Kingdom, travel to Perth to direct the boys in a 60s interpretation of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Peter has an extensive background in theatre, theatre studies and direction in the United Kingdom, having worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre London and as an academic in Drama at Newcastle university. He has written texts on teaching Shakespeare and has an extraordinary understanding of the language and the Elizabethan/ Jacobean era. The intensive rehearsal process took one month, however the boys delivered under pressure and worked well as an ensemble. The production was performed in keeping with the traditional method of an all-male cast, as per the practice in 1599, with the boys playing the roles of Rosalind, Celia, and Audrey. As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s comedies, written in 1599, with the classic elements of family dysfunction, missed identity, romance and a band of earthy characters who provide comic relief. Ms Jane Diamond Head of the Arts Faculty 14