You can’t judge the RSC’s As You Like It with the crude star system

Grumbler: I suppose I have to begin by asking whether, if you’ll forgive the obvious question, you actually did like it?

Optimist: Equally obviously, your question is too simple. Remember The Spectator rates its readers’ intelligence, abjuring the crudity of the ‘stars out of five’ system beloved of its competitors.

G: You could at least begin by telling me about the starring role, for isn’t the play all about Rosalind? Doesn’t it stand or fall on whether it’s ‘love at first sight’ for the audience as well as for the actors? How can any of today’s actors charm the birds from the trees as the likes of Vanessa Redgrave once did?

Most popular

Michael Gove

‘I’m a new kind of Christian’: Jordan Peterson on faith, family and the future of the right

O: Times change, theatre is ‘written on the wind’. All that matters is that we should be seduced by the individual allure, the magnetism, the vibrant presence of a particular actress.