William Shakespeare - 46 - As You Like It - John Stride & Janet Suzman

Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones and good in every thing.

The Argo recording from 1971 with John Stride, (Orlando) Janet Suzman (Rosalind) and Max Adrian (Touchstone) as the principals.

Note that this is not included in the 100 CD Argo set of Shakespeare which was released last year. Half a dozen or so subsequent recordings were made with fully professional casts. (as Wikipedia explains, “ Initially professional actors had been reluctant to work for the project, but in time Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Prunella Scales participated”) What is common with the earlier version is that George Rylands, a leading Oxford scholar and specialist in Shakespearian production, was the director of both versions. Do a comparison and this is obviously the superior version.

Of interest is that Max Adrian is in another first rate production, that of the Caedmon production of 1963. But there he plays Jaques. Kindly seed.

William Shakespeare - 7 - As You Like It – Caedmon-1963

William Shakespeare - 30 - As You Like It - bbc 2015