PRINCIPAL CAST: Peter Barnes (Jaques); Stefan Escreet (Orlando); Tracie Gillman (Rosalind); Wyllie Longmore (Touchstone); Kate Paul (Celia).

This production ran from 14 June - 23 July 1988. It was part of the Open Air Promenade season and ran in repertory with Christopher G. Sandford's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass; Longmore played the White Knight and Man in Newspaper in the companion piece.

"The scenery and sets for As You Like It are the sort which make one sit down and gasp rather than stand up and clap. 'All the world's a stage' intones Jaques, and indeed substantial parts of Lancaster's Williamson Park provide a real lake, caves and bridges, and a Forest of Arden with real trees growing so luxuriantly as to keep out the brightest sun. The Duke's palace is the Edwardian folly of the Ashton Memorial, Lancaster's response to the Taj Mahal, set against a backdrop of

~ Independent, 18 June 1988