CULTURE Junior Production – As You Like It
Christ’s College and Rangi Ruru Girls’ School Senior Drama Production
Director
THE CAST Rosalind
Lucy Aitken
By William Shakespeare Directed by Nikki Bleyendaal and Peter Rutherford “Can one desire too much of a good thing?” Rosalind’s words from the play essentially sum up our extraordinary experience of working with this talented cast of senior students for As You Like It . Shakespeare is often tricky to drum up enthusiasm for among high school students, but we were never short on passion, dedication or joy when it came to these performers! Their desire was evident right from the auditions and even selecting our final cast proved difficult when we had such a wonderful pool of talent to choose from. Co-directing with Peter Rutherford always allows for hilarity, creativity and excellent theatrical results, so I really shouldn’t be surprised that we had such a great time putting this show together. If you saw the show, then you have seen how much fun these actors and backstage crew had bringing Shakespeare’s world to life – from the seedy underbelly of Duke Frederick’s nightclub to the beautiful Forest of Arden, full of hope and opportunity. With Grant Hadley’s expertise in realising our vision for the two sets and the technical aspects of production, we were able to effectively immerse our audience in each world from the moment they arrived in the building. It’s near impossible to choose only one highlight from As You Like It – our lead characters, Rosalind (Lucy Aitken) and Orlando (Bruno Vaughan), were the epitome of class and courage; the fight choreography and connections between actors on stage; the Disney-esque transition into the enchanted forest contrasted with the disturbing torture dungeon of Duke Frederick (Jacob Clements); the frivolous joy and energy of both Touchstone (Meg Crump) and the melancholy Jaques (Ollie Jones) and the beautifully forlorn William (Will Jones); and the ridiculousness of the finale dance as a replacement of Shakespeare’s usual jig – all these components only touch upon how wonderful it was to work on As You Like It with this exceptional team and I am so proud of them. We would do it all again in a heartbeat! Nikki Bleyendaal
Orlando
Bruno Vaughan
Oliver
Adam Raitt
Celia
Saskia Simmers
Jaques
Ollie Jones Meg Crump
Touchstone
Duke Frederick
Jacob Clements
Duke Senior
Harry Sharr Ed Davidson
Silvius Phoebe
Lily Barrowcliffe
Corin Adam
Evie Short Alex Scott
Charles Audrey William Dennis Le Beau Amiens
Alex Speight Lauren Small William Jones Otto Elworthy
Reuben Oh
Saamya Gulati William Olsson
Jacques De Boys
Duke Frederick’s Thugs Duke Senior’s Lords
Joey Young, Sadie Lee Poppy Sam, William Sudell
Sir Oliver Martext
Lachie Short
Hymen
Victoria Anderson, Saamya Gulati, Emily Su
Ensemble
Amelia Kauder, Annabel Wynn-
Williams, Arabella Acland, Ella Hartel, Hannah Mansfield, Joshua Peckitt, Thimeth Wijesinghe
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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