As You Like It!

The forest is calling! This summer, a new company of players, The Midsummer Botanicals, invite audiences to step beneath the trees and into the wild, wondrous world of As You Like It - a sun-soaked celebration of laughter and community blooming in one of Wellington’s gorgeous gardens for the first week of the Wellington Fringe Festival.

Set in a vibrant reimagining of Shakespeare’s Forest of Arden, this production draws on courtyard and marketplace traditions of performance, transforming Wellington’s Aro Valley gem into a living, breathing garden of music, colour, and character. Audiences are invited to arrive early, explore the space, and meet the motley cast of lovers and fools before the story even begins. Expect song, sun, silliness, and the scent of summer roses.

Featuring a 10-person ensemble of local performers, As You Like It is part of a growing movement to re-root live theatre in the community - accessible, inclusive, and joyously alive.

We need your help to make these dreams come to life!