The Stage Abroad: Men Without Women

Like many of Shakespeare's other comedies, the rickety plot of As You Like It involves a heroine who assumes masculine disguise. According to Polish Critic Jan Kott, much of the ribaldry, irony and ambiguity of this transvestite change is lost on modern audiences, who are accustomed to seeing females in female roles. In the 17th century the roles of women were invariably played by boys.

Inspired by Kott's theories, London's National Theater Company last week staged a version of As You Like It in which all four female parts were played by men. For the production the actor-actresses were garbed in wigs and flowing gowns but there were no falsies and no falsettos. The result was a remark ably chaste performance free of disturbing homoerotic overtones. While Lon don reviewers generally had mixed feelings about the experiment, they praised the angular grace of Ronald Pickup's Rosalind, which evoked memories of the sprightly 1961 performance in the same role by Vanessa Redgrave.

In the part of Rosalind's confidante Celia, Charles Kay heightened the hu mor simply by reciting his iambic rantings in a sonorous baritone. And the actor-actors, headed by Jeremy Brett as Orlando, supported their mates with straight-faced manliness.

Director Clifford Williams, who was initially dubious about using men in women's roles, was delighted with the results. "Underlying the love scenes be tween Orlando and Rosalind there is an incandescent purity," he says. "Men are somehow better at this than wom en. Actresses, even the best ones, are likely to gush a little." Williams is mus ing over other possibilities: "It might be interesting to do Antony and Cleopa tra with a man as Cleopatra. There isn't a female around who can really play that role."