As You Like It

Qu 10; ‘Theatre is nothing more than technological tricks and visual gimmicks’. Discuss the statement above in relation to the play you have seen in performance compared to its original performance conditions. (30 marks)

Title of play: As You Like It

Playwright: William Shakespeare

Director: Polly Findlay

Venue of production: National Theatre, London

Date seen: 1st March, 2016

I agree with the above statement; ‘theatre is nothing more than technological tricks and visual gimmicks’. I agree with this statement because Polly Findlay, the director of the National Theatre’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, involved multiple sections where the full extent of modern technological aids were used.

‘Technological tricks’ refers to something that deceives someone. I feel that Findlay did this through her ‘As You Like It’ adaptation. One way that Findlay did this was her use of lighting and special effects in the play. A moment I remember strongly was between Charles the Wrestler (Leon Annor) and Orlando (Joe Bannister). This moment was when Charles is fighting Orlando underneath Duke Frederick’s (Leo Wringer’s) orders. The lighting changed from basic, white strip lighting across the stage to fluorescent strobe lighting. Although the main use of lighting in this scene was the incredible strobe lighting, Findlay and Jon Clark (lighting designer) also chose to have direct spotlights from above on both Charles and Orlando. This meant that the focus stayed strong on these two characters and did not deviate from the action on stage. In the original performance conditions this lighting, specifically the colours within the strobe lighting created via gels, would not have been available in Elizabethan times due to a lack of technological advances.

Another way that Findlay played trickery with the audience’s mind was by having paparazzi contribute to the overall lighting effect and atmosphere at the beginning of the wrestling scene. These paparazzi...