The Handlebards present: As You Like It by William Shakespeare @ The Quarry Theatre, Thursday, 9 July
It was well worth braving the stifling temperatures in The Quarry theatre last Thursday evening to see a wonderfully energetic production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, as performed by the HandleBards, a multi-talented theatre company based in the North-East of England.
As their punning name suggests, the company is renowned for touring from venue to venue carrying all their props, costumes, and sets on bicycles.
For their 2026 tour, the cast has committed to pedalling 1,800 miles across the UK – making them one of the most environmentally sustainable theatre companies on the global stage.
Further underscoring their contemporary credentials, their aim is to make Shakespeare’s plays accessible to all, including those who are neurodivergent and/or who have a visual impairment.
I had high expectations having seen the company’s dynamic and spirited production of Twelfth Night in the idyllic grounds of Elstow Abbey a number of years ago, and they did not disappoint.
The performance began with an upbeat rendition of ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’ sung by all four cast members, ably accompanied by Joel Benedict on guitar.
The song’s cheerful invitation to the pastoral world underlined the marked contrast with the corrupt court of the usurping Duke Frederick (Josh Radcliffe) in the play’s opening scene.
Quick-fire costume changes
Thereafter, the action shifts to the fabled Forest of Arden, to which Rosalind (Isobel Donkin) is banished to seek out her exiled father, Duke Senior (also played by Josh Radcliffe in one of the production’s many doublings), in the company of her cousin and loyal ally Celia (Sarah Bulmer).
In the first of the play’s numerous instances of mistaken identity and cross-dressing, the friends adopt the roles of Ganymede and Aliena, respectively.
And so begins a series of hilarious encounters between the lovesick Orlando (Josh Radcliffe) and his lover-surrogate Ganymede, mirrored in the sub-plot by the unrequited feelings of the shepherd Silvius (Joel Benedict) for the shepherdess Phebe (Sarah Bulmer) who, in turn, loves ‘Ganymede’.
As can be deduced from this account, the production calls for quick-fire role changes and, on some occasions, a character’s empty costume and disembodied props ‘stood in’ for the character in question to hilarious effect.
This also entailed actors seamlessly shifting between a wide range of accents, thus helping to differentiate them amidst the general mayhem.
They pulled this off with flair, and any confusion simply added to the carnivalesque atmosphere.
Character exits and entrances were facilitated by a set comprising a simple but highly effective, zipped tent flanked by two colourful heraldic panels, while Orlando’s love notes to Rosalind were pinned to a banner that stretched across the entire length of the stage.
Gallows humour
One outcome of the company’s efforts to accommodate a diverse audience is their integrational approach to theatre.
A case in point is the use of ‘visibly present’ sound effects on stage, including a scrunched-up plastic bottle to simulate the painful creaking of the wrestler Charles’s (Josh Benedict’s) neck, injured in a combat with Orlando, as well as a subsequent act of torture involving Charles’s arm being wrenched back into an unnatural position on the orders of the tyrannical Duke Frederick.
This made for visceral gallows humour, while another particularly funny scene occurred when the ailing servant Old Adam (Sarah Donkin) visibly deflated with fatigue and was literally and successively pumped up by Orlando.
Audience member Dan
Further clowning occurred when the actors broke the fourth wall by co-opting a very willing and, as it turned out, deadpan member of the audience, Dan, who gamely performed the successive roles of a stag, a sheep, a lion and the god of love.
In the latter role, he very adeptly rang no fewer than four separate bells in response to cues from the actors and was rewarded by a well-deserved round of applause from the audience.
Perhaps the most famous speech in the play is delivered by the melancholic malcontent Jacques (Isobel Donkin) and begins “All the world’s a stage…”.
The seven ages of man were embodied convincingly by the other three actors using physical clowning, with the addition of hats, beards, sunglasses, coats and a walking stick.
By the end of the play, all the characters are transformed into versions of their best selves and the tangled web of murderous sibling rivalry and star-crossed love are resolved.
“A joy to watch”
Indeed, the entire production was a joy to watch and provided a much-needed antidote to our troubled times.
The director, Mark Collier, comments in the programme notes: “I believe that the HandleBards is the nearest we get nowadays to the wandering players of Shakespeare’s era”.
What is most to be commended is the company’s ability to restore the original festive humour of the comedies, some of which is unfortunately lost on contemporary audiences because of their reliance on allusions and wordplay that no longer resonate.
Indeed, so impressed was I by the talent of the performers that I have bought tickets for their forthcoming production of Macbeth at a theatre in Oundle on 19 July, and I have no hesitation in recommending any and all of their future productions.
The reviewer was gifted tickets to facilitate this review.
