SOURCE: Jackson, Russell. Review of As You Like It. Shakespeare Quarterly 52, no. 1 (spring 2001): 107-23.

In the following excerpted review of the 2000 Shakespeare season at Stratford-upon-Avon, Jackson explains that Greg Doran's production of As You Like It was dominated by setting, design, and costume, which overshadowed the individual performances and contributed to an artificial and unsubtle staging of the play.

As You Like It, the first Stratford production by Greg Doran to have misfired, was all but designed off the stage by Kaffe Fassett and Niki Turner. The set, remarkable in itself, was too fussy for the good of the play (even after some modification). The actors' performances seemed by contrast to have been reduced to a display of energy and broad effect in order to compete with the vibrant colors and oversized greenery. For more than one observer the set's garishness and the scale of its central tree...