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.
‘a must-see’
'a liberating night at the theatre... brutally funny, and so brutally honest'
Need to know
For ages 14+
Latecomers are not admitted, so please arrive in advance of the event's listed start time.
Find out more about the performances with our free programme.
View the programme
Dates & times
Wed 5 – Fri 7 Jun, 8pm
Sat 8 Jun, 3pm & 8pm
Sun 9 Jun, 3pm
Approximate run time: 1 hour 30 mins.
Price
- Standard entryFrom £25*
- Concessions25%**
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
Book as early as you can to ensure the best choice of tickets. Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
** Limited availability. Read about concessions.
Tickets can only be sold through the Southbank Centre and our authorised agents, and can't be resold. You can return your tickets to the Southbank Centre for a credit voucher up to 48 hours before the event. Tickets resold on any third-party platforms will become invalid.
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Venue
Purcell Room
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Open 90 minutes before an event until the end of the event. Closed at all other times.
Our address is: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. The nearest tube and train stations within 5-7 minutes walk are Waterloo (Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Waterloo & City lines) and Embankment (District & Circle lines). There are also lots of bus routes with stops 2-5 minutes from our venues. For more information on getting here by road, rail or river.
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More information
Find out all you need to know about tickets, including concessions, group bookings, returns, credit vouchers and more, via the link below.
Get an overview of the seating layout of the Purcell Room by downloading our seating plan.
Toilets
An accessible toilet is located in the foyer.
A Changing Places toilet is located on Level 1 Royal Festival Hall next to the JCB Glass Lift, for the exclusive use of disabled people who need personal assistance to use the toilet.
The facility includes a height-adjustable bench, tracking hoist system, a centrally-placed toilet, a height-adjustable basin and a shower. Please visit the Welcome Desk on Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, where a member of staff can provide you with the key. You can also use the phone next to the Changing Places toilet to speak to a member of staff. The facility is open daily 10am – 11pm.
Cloakroom
The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room cloakroom is closed. You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the venues, so please leave large bags at home.
We're cash-free
Please note that we're unable to accept cash payments across our site.
Purcell Room is located in Queen Elizabeth Hall. For step-free access please use Royal Festival Hall JCB glass lift to Level 2 and enter via Riverside Terrace.
Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open.
Please bear with us while we update our access map to reflect the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall’s Level 2 foyer spaces. The step-free routes remain the same.