“How poor are they that have not patience!”. So implores Iago in defence of his slowly unfolding plot. As with so much of Shakespeare’s work, the line from Othello is one that resonates today. Indeed, it may have been in the mind of the Royal Shakespeare Company when it was considering how best to retain the attention of time-poor audiences this season.
Instead, it chose a different route, and a provocation: one play is to be squished into an 80-minute sprint, for those who don’t have the time to sit through the full two- or three-hour rendition. Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans, co-artistic directors announcing their first season of RSC programming, said this compact show – As You Like It, to be performed in the outdoor Holloway Garden Theatre – would be ideal for tourists visiting Stratford-upon-Avon.
