Orlando: Athlete of Virtue

Summary

That rebellious youth, Orlando, has apparently made As You Like It contemporary again. The mod musical-comedy production of the play during the summer of 1969 in the Sylvan Theatre, Washington, D.C., drew crowds of the Colorful Generation. There is enough, especially at the beginning of the play, to explain why. Orlando’s first speech is a shout of protest. He tells Adam, the old family servant, about exploitation by the ‘older generation’ in the person of an eldest brother. Ever since the death of their father Oliver has treated Orlando shamelessly, denying him a relevant education by setting him to mindless tasks. We suddenly know ourselves to be in the Renaissance rather than the twentieth century, however, when Orlando claims as the spring of his rebellion a noble spirit inherited from his father, not the superior moral sense of youth. The combination of blood and manhood—Orlando’s beard is just beginning—make his servitude intolerable. His new personality is expressed dramatically in two decisive ways. After violently quarrelling with Oliver, Orlando leaves home. Later, a public declaration of manhood is the wrestling match with the lethal professional, Charles. Both statements are physical as well as verbal. In the quarrel Orlando seizes the throat of an insulting brother, and, of course, the actual contest follows the challenge to Charles.