Duke Senior & Duke Frederick

Shakespeare's Shadows

featuring interviews with actors Darius de Haas and Jennifer Lines and Murdoch University professor Alys Daroy

As You Like It is often remembered for being a rom-com, but it’s also a family drama. Duke Senior (Rosalind’s father) is usurped by his brother Duke Frederick. One brother rules at court while the exiled brother builds a new life in the Forest of Arden.

In this episode — about not just one but two characters — we discuss why it is that Frederick banished his brother and then his niece, what makes As You Like It ripe for musical adaption, how to make sense of Duke Senior so eagerly returning to court after he was raving about life in the forest, and more.

Guests on this episode are:

• Jennifer Lines (she/her), who performed in multiple stagings (including at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.) of an As You Like It featuring Beatles music. This version of the play originated at Bard on the Beach in Vancouver, and Jennifer plays characters known in that version as Dame Senior and Dame Frances.

• Darius de Haas (he/him), who played Duke Senior in the 2017 Public Works world premiere of Shaina Taub’s As You Like It musical adaptation at the Delacorte Theater in New York’s Central Park

• Dr. Alys Daroy (she/her), a professor of English and Theatre at Murdoch University. Alys is also an actor and is co-artistic director of Shakespeare South, recognized as Australia’s first eco-Shakespeare company. She is co-author of the forthcoming book Shakespeare, Ecology and Adaptation: A Practical Guide.

To view video footage from Jennifer's and Darius's productions, visit shakespearesshadows.com/duke-senior-frederick-video