Ralph Koltai’s set model for the As You Like It
Koltai dated his interest in reflective material to his designs for the National Theatre’s all-male As You Like It in 1967. He interpreted the play as a romantic dream and created a setting which implied the location instead of creating it realistically. The trees in Koltai’s white Forest of Arden were made of clear perspex rods with hanging cut-out panels suggesting leafy branches. When lit from above the ‘tree trunks’ reflected the light and the panels threw dappled patterns on the white stage floor.
