'Dominic Cooke's staging is an utter delight: fresh, funny and touching, with a wonderfully strong sense of ensemble...irrepressible high spirits backed by dedicated artistry...the delivery of Shakespeare's language...is exemplary...Lia Williams, a marvellous actress...is a heart-catching Rosalind...Barnaby Kay is an outstanding Orlando...Amanda Harris' Celia seems especially enchanting...the lugubrious, moon-faced Paul Chahidi is that rarest of things, a genuinely funny Touchstone...in short, As You Like It as you'll like it'.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'This is one of those delightful occasions when the RSC gets absolutely everything right...Amanda Harris's endearingly hearty Celia...there is a real fizz of attraction between Lia Williams and Barnaby Kay as the lovers...Williams, convincingly enamoured, slouches around comically in her masculine usurped attire...the evening's undoubted find is the magnetic Kay, who converts his Orlando from an angry man of combat into an ardent, youthful lover'.
EVENING STANDARD
'Lia Williams makes an impressive Stratford debut as an unusually regal Rosalind, well-partnered by Barnaby Kay as a charismatic Orlando...around them the director Dominic Cooke has gathered some very strong support, not least Amanda Harris as the bespectacled, lovelorn Celia and Jonathan Newth doubling the good and evil Dukes'.
DAILY EXPRESS
