Probably written in 1599 – 1600, As You Like It was entered for publication at Stationers’ Hall in 1600 to prevent unlicensed printing but was never published in Shakespeare’s lifetime. The first published text is that of the First Folio of 1623. No clear references to contemporary performances can be found and it is not until well into the eighteenth century that we can even be sure that the play was performed regularly. Why did such an enjoyable work remain obscure for so long? There are many theories as to why this should have been so. Perhaps it was partly because some of the play’s themes – attacks on corruption at court and usurpers, recognition of the suffering caused to some poor farmers by the enclosures of land, discussions of the problems of old age and emphasis on the right to free speech – were a little too close to home for a society ruled by an ageing monarch, Elizabeth I, and threatened by an insecure succession. It has also been suggested that the play may have strayed too close to breaching the 1599 “Bishops’ Ban” on satirical writing. State censorship was alive and well in 1600.

As with many of his works, Shakespeare’s play is adapted from a popular source, in this case Thomas Lodge’s Rosalynde (1590). Here too the heroine is banished by a usurping ruler who has already banished her father, and flees to the Forest of Arden disguised as “Ganymede” (the name of Jove’s page). Once again genius and exceptional stagecraft enabled the playwright to transform the original into something quite extraordinary. The play is revolutionary in its structure, mingling many types of drama, verse, prose and song. The plot is of the slightest – what is complex is the way in which all the characters develop emotionally during the play.

At its centre is one of Shakespeare’s most extraordinary characters: that of Rosalind, who finds her assumption of male disguise gives her the freedom to be herself and to forge a truly equal relationship with her lover, Orlando. If it was performed at the time it was written the unidentified boy player who created the role of Rosalind must have enjoyed exceptional gifts as an actor. The part has drawn many great players to it over the centuries, starting with Peg Woffington who performed it at Drury Lane in 1740. Since that date the play has rarely been out of the repertoire.

In As You Like It, as with all great plays, every generation discovers a new relevance. In 2006 the central themes of the play – the freedom to be oneself, to be true to ideals of love and loyalty, to abhor corruption and wrongdoing and above all to have the ability to laugh at oneself and the foibles of the world – are as important as they were four hundred years ago. As spring finally arrives, we invite you to join us in the Forest of Arden.

Sue Solomon