As You Like It Royal Shakespeare Company

In the Forest of Arden, exiled Duke Senior has established a pastoral refuge where he and his loyal followers live in philosophical harmony with nature. Meanwhile, at court, his usurping brother Duke Frederick rules with tyranny. When Frederick's daughter Celia discovers that her cousin Rosalind—the exiled duke's daughter—has won the heart of the noble Orlando through a wrestling match, she conspires to send Rosalind into the forest. Rosalind flees disguised as the boy Ganymede, accompanied by Celia as his sister Aliena. In Arden's enchanted woodland, Rosalind encounters the lovesick Orlando and devises a clever scheme: she will counsel him in love by pretending to be Rosalind herself, testing his devotion through witty banter and romantic games. As multiple love stories unfold—including the pastoral romance between the shepherd Silvius and the disdainful Phebe—the forest becomes a place of transformation where characters shed their courtly pretenses. Through disguise, wordplay, and the restorative power of nature, true love is revealed, virtue is rewarded, and the rightful order is restored.