“Sure to excite”
*Spoilers Ahead*
What makes you want to buy a ticket to a show? What keeps you in your seat through to the end, even if you’re properly enraged? What is the contract you obligate yourself to when you scan your ticket, find your seat, and settle in?
There is no way to talk about Cliff Cardinal’s As You Like It: A Radical Retelling without utterly spoiling its very unique, very bold plot. That is something that can only be revealed to you should you decide to go (and can still get a ticket). Instead, it is perhaps far more productive to prepare those who do intend to go – if not in Edinburgh, where it is currently running as a part of the International Festival, then wherever Crow Theater decides to take it next – with questions to consider.
For one: Of all the shows on offer in Edinburgh this summer, why did you decide to buy a ticket to a Shakespeare play?
There is nothing wrong with doing so – although, by the end, the audience definitely had some mixed feelings. I think I went because it promised to be a “radical retelling” of a well-known Shakesepare comedy from an Indigenous perspective. Not that we need yet another modernized Shakespeare play slapped into a contemporary context for no good reason other than to lazily make it “more accessible” or prove that it is still relevant. (It is still relevant, but not because we’re suddenly seeing modern garb instead of tights, guns, and corsets.) But an Indigenous reimagining of this Bardly staple sounded like something I’d never seen before. From this day forward, I will never walk into a Shakespeare production the same way again.
Ironically, the land acknowledgment – a practice more common in North America than here in the U.K. – outshone all the Shakespeare by leagues and bounds. Lakota actor and playwright Cliff Cardinal opened the show with a reflection on our relationship to the land and to each other, sharing how his Indigenous perspective shaped his approach to adapting a beloved classic of the Western canon. And while it was one of the longer land acknowledgements I’ve been witness to, it was worth every penny of the ticket price.
If you haven’t supported the work of an Indigenous artist recently, consider going to this mind-blowing take on Shakespeare’s arboreal, romantic jaunt. In a world in which the wealthy have every incentive to make the dark histories of all our daily spaces feel far away, unappealingly dusty, and unimportant, it is vital that work like this is supported, programmed, and shouted from the rooftops. It may not please everyone, but it is sure to excite.
As You Like It: A Radical Retelling is a part of the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival and playing until 23 August. Get tickets here: http://www.eif.co.uk/events/as-you-like-it-a-radical-retelling
Well. Where do I start – I guess when I looked through the theatre section of the Edinburgh International Festival brochure. Over the past two years EIF’s quality theatre offerings have been a little sparse so a “radical retelling / Shakespeare” seemed like a good bet. However I was unaware I was in for an undergraduate rant/TED talk albeit with some reasonably sharp wit. Spoiler – there is no radical retelling and certainly no “mind-blowing take on Shakespeare’s arboreal, romantic jaunt”. Many in the audience left (almost unheard of at the EIF), none seemingly outraged, merely disappointed.
Questions – Land acknowledgement, I can understand a useful vehicle in Canada/U.S./Australia/ New Zealand; but in Scotland, who do we acknowledge – the Picts? Secondly, why deceive an audience with the misleading (at best) title.
So, two stars at best – unless you are a slightly immature young radical looking to “stick it to the man”. Sorry.