The recent production of As You Like It is the subject of my current Chandler's Ford Today post where I review the play and share some of its history. But for this blog I wanted to share how, despite the modern set design (the Forest of Arden was made out of office furniture, yes really!) the language of Shakespeare remains timeless. And it is that language which reminds you of how old these plays are and how well they've survived and been adapted over the centuries since their first performance.
It is thanks to actor friends of Shakespeare we have the plays in written form at all thanks to their compiling the First Folio. My late mother was always a huge fan of the Bard of Avon and I've come to the plays relatively late in life (though she'd be pleased I'd been converted at all!). In researching my CFT post, I was quite pleased to discover the master playwright was worried about others copying his work and putting on inferior productions. Copyright infringement fears really are nothing new!
Shakespeare is one of those writers who've added words to the language. I've found with As You Like It and Hamlet that most of the Elizabethan language is clear and those sections which are not are brought to life and meaning by (a) the context and (b) the actors. So the setting of the plays, the dress of the actors and so on can be as modern as the producer wants but as long as they don't tamper with the Bard's wonderful language, it works. The stories are strong and he was a great believer in the sub-plot! He also wrote more comedies than any other type of play so presumably knew what his audience wanted. There are lessons for modern writers there I think...