Come and join us in the Forest of Arden as the Shakespearean comedy, As You Like It, takes the stage as part of Stratford Festival’s 2025 season. Directed by Chris Abraham and led by Christopher Allen as Orlando, Sara Farb as Rosalind and Aaron Krohn as Jaques, this tale of identity, love and transformative power begins previews tomorrow at the Festival Theatre.

Harvests have grown thin, and the world is out of joint. Duke Frederick seizes power from his sister, the Duchess, forcing her into exile in the Forest of Arden. Her daughter Rosalind soon follows, fleeing the court with her loyal cousin Celia. Disguised as a boy named Ganymede, Rosalind navigates a new life among exiles, rebels and the rural inhabitants of an ancient forest. There, she encounters Orlando – fleeing his vindictive brother Oliver – and puts his claim of love to the test. Their witty role-playing sparks a charged, self-questioning and profound journey towards love.

Amidst mistaken identities, multiple romantic entanglements, and a few songs, the forest becomes a place where exiles, lovers, and a banished Duchess come to see the world – and their place in it – differently. The play ends in celebration, with long-separated families reunited and multiple couples joyfully wed.

“Theatre is an act of conjuring–a magic trick that reveals not just what is but what might be. A bare stage becomes an ancient forest; a distant past, the present moment; an ending, the start of something new,” says Abraham. “Shakespeare’s plays are obsessed with this kind of transformation. Still, none more fully explores the alchemy of adversity–turning misfortune into its opposite – than As You Like It.”

As You Like It features Sean Arbuckle as Duke Frederick, Seana McKenna as The Duchess, Steve Ross as Touchstone and Makambe K. Simamba as Celia, with Celia Aloma, Gabriel Antonacci as Amiens, Shane Carty, Andrew Chown as Oliver, Ashley Dingwell as Hysperia, Thomas Duplessie, Jacklyn Francis, Jesse Gervais, Jessica B. Hill as Phoebe, Hiro Kanagawa as Corin, Jeff Lillico as Le Beau, Michael Man as Silvius, Silvae Mercedes as Audrey, Evan Mercer as Jaques de Boys, John Ng as Adam, Joe Perry as Charles, Leon Qin as William, Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, Nadine Villasin and Norman Yeung as Dennis.

Abraham is joined by Set and Costume Designer Julie Fox, Lighting Designer Imogen Wilson, Composer Ron Sexsmith and Composer and Sound Designer Thomas Ryder Payne.

As You Like It has its press opening on May 26 and runs until October 24 at the Festival Theatre. Tickets are available at www.stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.

The 2025 season also features Annie, Sense and Sensibility, Dangerous Liaisons, Macbeth, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Anne of Green Gables, The Winter’s Tale, Forgiveness, Ransacking Troy and The Art of War. For more information, visit www.stratfordfestival.ca.