‘As You Like It’: Live at the Roman Theatre, Verulamium

If 2 Tone, guitars and saxophones had been around in 1623, Shakespeare would have conceived of ‘As You Like It’ much as OVO staged it in the Roman Theatre of Verulamium.

‘As You Like It’ 2026 (c) Ian Cullen

OVO used a Roman venue for a Jacobean play, in a black and white city from the sixties and a bucolic countryside idyll.

The ensemble cast merged acting with singing and musical performances with some insightful and humorous uses of sixties tunes like Waterloo Sunset, These Boots Were Made for Walking and God Only Knows.

The pace of Shakespeare’s language was perfect in this production, with the musicality of the lines delivered with panache by the entire cast. One of the joys of Shakespeare’s writing is the democratic sharing of some of the best lines, which makes it impossible to single out any of these actors for specific praise.

Actor musicians seem to be a staple of the OVO ensemble and I enjoyed the musical elements of their previous productions of Sherlock Holmes and The Importance of Being Earnest in this summer season at the Roman Theatre. There’s still time for Twelfth Night at the end of August and lots of plans for the future of this inventive St Albans company.

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