Skip to main content
The Folger Spotlight

ENCORES: ‘As You Like It’ produced by Folger Theatre (2017)

Posted
Author
Folger ENCORES, red theater seats fading into darkness
Folger ENCORES, red theater seats fading into darkness

Folger Public Programs is pleased to present ENCORES, a weekly online series highlighting past performances and recalling the rich history of programming on the historic Folger stage. As many arts and cultural institutions remain closed during this time, these ENCORES provide a way to connect and revisit the breadth of Folger offerings with a wider audience.

ENCORES presents

Folger Theatre
As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch***, Folger Theatre, 2017
Read the Dramaturg’s notes for this production

Performed by

  • Lindsay Alexandra Carter*, Rosalind
  • Lorenzo Roberts*, Orlando
  • Antoinette Robinson*, Celia

With

  • Scenic Design by John McDermott**
  • Costume Design by Charlotte Palmer Lane**
  • Lighting Design by Eric Southern**
  • Sound Design by Leon Rothenberg**
  • Composer, Heather Christian
  • Choreographer, Alexandra Beller***
  • Production Stage Manager, Karen Currie*

*Actors’ Equity Association
**United Scenic Artists
***Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

For more on the play, visit our resources on Folger.edu, view the text on The Folger Shakespeare, or explore the production on The Folger Spotlight. Learn more about the history of As You Like It here.

Read the introduction by cast member Antoinette Robinson:

Hello and welcome to Folger ENCORES. I’m Antoinette Robinson, and I’m pleased to be able to talk with you. The Folger has been sharing selections from their plays, music, readings, and talks with you in this ENCORES series. This week we’re visiting the Folger Theatre’s production of As You Like It, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch. In this production, I played Celia.

Now to catch you up on the story so that you are privy to what is happening in this scene: Two brothers, Orlando and Oliver, are at odds and Oliver plots to have Orlando slain in a wrestling match. Meanwhile, Duke Frederick banishes his older brother, Duke Senior in exile to the Forest of Arden. Rosalind, Duke Senior’s daughter, and Celia, daughter of Duke Frederick, attend the wrestling match where they meet Orlando. Orlando and Rosalind instantly fall in love. Now banished by the Duke Frederick, Rosalind assumes a male identity, Ganymede, and she and I run away to the forest. In Arden, Rosalind (in her male identity) forms a teasing friendship with Orlando, pretending to be his love.

In this scene, Orlando played by Lorenzo Roberts and Rosalind, played by Lindsay Carter, take their flirtation to new heights. By the way, this is my favorite Shakespeare show.

Please be sure to join us again for these weekly episodes of ENCORES, highlighting all that the Folger has to offer. Thank you.

Encores LogoCheck back each Friday for a new “from the archives” performance, introduced by some of our favorite artists, showcasing the best of Folger Theatre, Folger Consort, O.B. Hardison Poetry, and lectures.

Folger Theatre

Folger Theatre is the vibrant center piece of the Folger’s public programs. With a focus on Shakespeare, Folger Theatre produces plays reflecting the breadth of the library’s peerless collection. In this unique setting, with collaborations between artists and experts, Folger Theatre produces innovative stagings that have been commended as “breathtakingly original...strikingly contemporary” (The Washington Post). Led since 1991 by Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre has received 135 nominations and 23 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production. During the recent seasons Folger Theatre has received the Outstanding Resident Play Award for its productions of Measure for Measure in 2007, Hamlet in 2011 and The Taming of the Shrew in 2013. Other highlights from Folger Theatre’s producing history include these Helen Hayes Award recipients or nominees for outstanding production: Romeo and Juliet (2013), Orestes: A Tragic Romp (2010), Henry VIII (2010), Arcadia (2009), Macbeth (2008), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2006), Melissa Arctic (2006), She Stoops to Conquer (2002), Shakespeare’s R & J (2001), Much Ado About Nothing (1998), and Romeo and Juliet (1997). — View all posts by Folger Theatre

Comments

[…] This talk was presented as part of the humanities programs surrounding the Folger Theatre production of As You Like It. You can watch a clip from that production in a previous Folger ENCORES. […]

ENCORES: "Play, Music!" with Brian Kay (2017) - The Folger Spotlight — May 21, 2021