In Shakespeare’s As You Like It we may learn that there are good people in the world, even among the corrupt and selfish, and that forgiveness is possible. In As You Like It or The Land Acknowledgement you may feel that even though Cliff Cardinal writer and performer is angry, indeed very angry, he is willing to talk to ‘the corrupt and selfish’, well anyone really, to shine a light on the at times hypocrisy of the inclusion, delivery and reception of the now ritual acknowledgement of land in Canada.
As You Like It or The Land Acknowledgement may have originally been a bait and switch trick played on the audience when it was originally titled ‘William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, A Radical Retelling’ presented by Crow’s Theatre in Toronto. There is no performing of As You Like It. It is symbolic of the ‘tricks’ which have been played on certain sectors of society with colonisation. Since its inception in 2021 Cardinal has performed the 85 minute monologue in Canada and the UK. It arrived in Australia in Sydney early January 2025. It has received standing ovations from some among the audiences.
At its heart the show asks ‘What do land acknowledgements accomplish other than make white people feel good about themselves?’. Whilst the left leaning public adopt the slogans as a badges of woke, good correct thinking people, Cardinal asks are they deluding themselves. Cardinal does make an early call to action hoping for some concrete meaningful change.
Cardinal ridicules rich white people from certain neighbourhoods using the audience as bait. He challenges stereotypes from a range of races and countries plus generously indicating that not all members of all indigenous communities follow certain practices or have certain knowledge often attributed to them. He asks the audience to examine their personal interaction with political action, voting, indigenous peoples and their art and literature. There is clear evidence in his show that he has researched some aspects of this in Sydney, Australia.
He gives his heart, body and soul to his performance. It is always engaging. The performance is a blend of ‘spoken essay’, storytelling and stand-up comedy. It is funny enough to be sufficiently palatable for audience members to survive the barbs.
After telling tales of women in his large extended family who inspired him, Cardinal embraces the audience with ‘Let’s be family’. Despite his intergenerational rage he remains likeable.
At the end of the show some may leave thinking – I’m a good person – and besides he’s talking about Canada, isn’t he?!
As You Like It or The Land Acknowledgement was performed at the Sydney Opera House on 4 and 5 Jan 2025 as part of the Sydney Festival 2025.
Production photography. Photo of Cliff Cardinal Photo by Dahlia Kahtz
