As you Like It at the Lake

Tilly Wood as Rosalind and Naire MacDonald as Touchstone. Photo: Nathaniel Knight

Enjoy the fun and frivolity of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, As You Like It, in the most stunning of settings.

The sixth instalment of Little Seed Theatre Company’s annual Shakespeare at the Lake, As You Like It provides plenty of laughs.

The story is set in the forest of Arden where dreamers and schemers seek a new world. All the world’s a stage in this setting overlooking beautiful Lake MacDonald. So pack a picnic, bring your favourite tipple, a cushion or two and get lost in the world of dukes, daughters and disguises, just how you like it.

The company presented Romeo and Juliet as their first foray into Shakespeare in 2017, staging the show at the amphitheatre in the Noosa Botanical Gardens overlooking Lake MacDonald.

This experience was a great delight for cast, director and the hundreds of audience members who turned out for the event that year. The success of the first year lead the company director to establish Shakespeare at the Lake as an annual event. Performed in May as part of the Anywhere Festival the event is a highlight for the company and has a wonderful reputation within the community for its vibrant costumes, strong sense of physical theatre and for bringing Shakespeare to life for modern audiences.

While long term locals know the history of the grand Greek-style theatre in Noosa Botanical Gardens, newcomers and visitors may wonder why such a splendid structure with all it’s ancient Greek and Roman evocations was built here.

Ida Duncan, Friend of Rotary, owned a property that formed the entry to the gardens and she hated to see the land used as a dump.

After touring Greece and falling in love with their amphitheatres, Ida had an idea that the vacant hillside in the gardens could become an amphitheatre. While many said it could not be done, Ida fundraised furiously and was undeterred. In 1997 the construction was completed and Ida’s dream became a reality.

Celebrating nature, shifting gender roles and the absurdities of politics, confusion reigns supreme in this big hearted comedy by the Bard.

Tickets are available through little-seed.com.au and the show plays May 14, 15, 21 and 22 at 2.30pm.