The Land Acknowledgement or As You Like It
Shakespeare’s comedy of divisions takes on an entirely different meaning in this daring, subversive retelling by Cliff Cardinal, presented as part of LIFT 2024.
Cultural provocateur Cliff Cardinal revisits Shakespeare’s timeless tale of mistaken identities, gentle ruses and banishment in this show that exults in difficult subject matter.
Crow’s Theatre, one of Toronto’s most eclectic and adventuresome companies, decided to begin with an audacious new show. They said very little about it. Only that it was a ‘radical retelling by Cliff Cardinal’ of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. There were no further details, no cast list, nothing.
How – and why – was Cardinal, a young Indigenous playwright and actor of Cree and Lakota heritage, acclaimed for his acerbic humour and willingness to deal with raw emotions and difficult subject matter, going to retell one of Shakespeare’s most accessible and whimsical plays?
Called ‘the Canadian arts surprise of the year’ by The Globe and Mail, Cardinal’s brilliant play, The Land Acknowledgement or As You Like It, offers us the unvarnished truth of the state of the reconciliation process between Indigenous communities and colonial settlers in Canada. When the curtains rise, you can be certain that it’s Shakespeare as you’ve never seen it before and certainly never will again.
Winner of the 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama.
Presented as part of London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT).
Crow’s Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.
Need to know
Latecomers are not admitted, so please arrive in advance of the event’s listed start time.
‘a liberating night at the theatre… brutally funny, and so brutally honest’
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.