MetroWeekly
- Highly Recommended
"...Anchoring the production with his roles as the warring patriarchs Duke Senior and Duke Frederick, Jefferson A. Russell brings the gravitas and seems to be having fun doing it. Another cornerstone is Ahmad Kamal as Touchstone, the court fool, who joins Rosalind’s Ganymede and her bestie Celia (played with sweet earnestness by Sabrina Lynne Sawyer) in the Forest of Arden. Kamal is clearly much at home with physical comedy and engaging an audience, and what he doesn’t quite conquer with wit, he definitely delivers with sheer joie de vivre."
Talkin Broadway
- Highly Recommended
"...Karen Ann Daniels, artistic director of the company, is credited as 'envisioning' the production, while director Timothy Douglas has done a stellar job of putting the pieces together in unexpected ways."
MD Theatre Guide
- Recommended
"...Overall, “As You Like It” succeeds in what it sets out to do: it invites audiences to see DC differently. The production asks us to look beyond the marble and monuments, to recognize that the city’s cultural heart beats in its neighborhoods, communities, and people. This love letter, an invitation extended with conviction and anchored by a cast of considerable gifts, is worth returning to again and again."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...Folger’s As You Like It is a vibrant and intriguing reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s beloved work that centers the play in our local community. It is immediate and recognizable. With a strong company and a unique perspective this is an important reinterpretation that shouldn’t be missed."
K Street Magazine
- Recommended
"...Overall, this “As You Like It” is accessible, thoughtfully staged, and suffused with local spirit. It may not radically change how you see Shakespeare, but it definitely offers a version that feels connected to the city and its local community. A worthy endeavor."
Hill Rag
- Recommended
"...The idyllic Arden forest is imbued with the signifiers of our city’s pulsating culture, much of which you’ll recognize instantly, and it’s there that the play’s shenanigans take place: A feuding pair of brothers, Ollie (Terrance Fleming) and Orlando (Manu Kumasi) follow the exiled Rosalind (Tsilala Brock) and Celia (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer), who’ve disguised themselves as Ganymede and Aliena to escape the duke’s wrath (both Duke Frederick and Duke senior are played by Jefferson A. Russell). Add to the mix the deposed duke’s royal court decamped in the wilderness and plenty of gender bending and you’ve got all the rip-roaring trappings of the Elizabethan playwright’s archetypal romantic comedies."
A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts
- Highly Recommended
"...As You Like It revolves around Rosalind, the daughter of Duke Senior, who has been exiled by his brother, and her close relationship with her cousin Celia, the daughter of Duke Frederick, who sent his brother into exile. The play begins with a wrestling match where Rosalind is instantly drawn to Orlando, the outsider who unexpectedly wins the match. (It is almost as if we are seeing a cartoon version of instant attraction, with colored hearts floating between the two.)"
The Washington Lobbyist
- Highly Recommended
"...A vibrant, joyful production that transforms Shakespeare into local neighborhood storytelling for the many identities of our DC neighborhoods — Folger Theatre’s As You Like It is fundamental theatre at its best."
DC Theater Arts
- Highly Recommended
"...Conceived by Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels as a ‘love letter to DC,’ the Folger’s exuberant production offers a light-hearted tonic for the troubled times the city — and the world — finds itself in. Tightly directed by Timothy Douglas per Daniels’ vision, the Folger production takes the central dichotomy of Shakespeare’s comedy — life under the tyrannical strictures of Duke Frederick’s court versus the freedoms of life in the Forest of Arden — and light-handedly applies it to the nation’s capital."
