Back by popular demand is a reimagined promenade staging of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It from OVO in St Albans.
After performances over the weekend at the Maltings Arts Theatre, there are further shows in St Albans from Thursday, November 7 to Saturday, November 9.
A promenade production at the Maltings is a bold new approach that takes William Shakespeare's classic comedy and places the audience into the 1960s Summer of Love.
It's 1967, pressured by the generation gap, lovers Rosalind and Orlando escape the city and journey to the Forest of Arden where they become entangled in a beguiling game of love, lust and mistaken identity.
This vibrant and uplifting interpretation of Shakespeare's glorious comedy is a magical trip to the Summer of Love, complete with live 1960s soundtrack.
In a new approach for OVO productions at the Maltings, director Adam Nichols said about the promenade staging: "In transferring this production from a large outdoor spectacular to an intimate indoor venue, we wanted to make sure the audience still felt fully immersed in the action.
"In this promenade setting the action, and the actors, are all around you - and you might even have a chance to play a role yourself!"
OVO creatives pride themselves on making Shakespeare accessible and entertaining.
Although the setting, the visuals and the music are important, the language is the most important element.
Even if you think Shakespeare 'isn't for you' producers are confident that they will bring the text to life.
Previous OVO musical Shakespeare productions have included Much Ado About Nothing in a 50s diner and The Merry Wives of Windsor at an 80s rock festival.
Suspension of disbelief is a key component of theatre, and with this in mind director Adam Nichols said: "All the vastly expensive trappings of the modern British theatre have often made it unnecessarily expensive to stage and blinded audiences to its real purpose and power.
"We believe that we can create exciting and artistically innovative theatre without financial riches, and that necessity is often the motherhood of invention.
"We don't do realism. In the 21st century, realism is for television and the movies.
"Far better to let the audience's imagination do the work for you."
Performances of As You Like It are at 8pm.
? Tickets are available at www.ticketsource.co.uk/ovo or on the door at the Maltings Arts Theatre.
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