25th Annual Lawyer Play Brings AS YOU LIKE IT To The Great Canadian Theatre Company
Running from April 30th to May 3rd for the 25th Annual Lawyer Play Fundraiser.
By: A.A. Cristi Apr. 30, 2025
The Great Canadian Theatre Company with the County of Carleton Law Association will be presenting Shakespeare's As You Like It from April 30th to May 3rd for the 25th Annual Lawyer Play Fundraiser. The Lawyer Play marks its 25th Anniversary in the same season as GCTC's 50th Anniversary, and Shakespeare's festive comedy is an ideal choice for the celebration.
A cast of 24 legal professionals takes on the roles of dukes, princesses, shepherds, noblemen, fools, and more. The fundraiser, featuring one preview performance and three special gala performances, will support the operations of the Great Canadian Theatre Company and 2025 charity partner, Cornerstone Housing for Women. This year's production is directed by Geoff McBride.
The Lawyer Play is one of the legal community's longest-running and most successful fundraisers. Since its inaugural production of 12 Angry Jurors in 1999, the Lawyer Play has grown into a significant event in Ottawa's legal social calendar. Over the past 25 years, more than 300 lawyers, law students, paralegals, judges, and magistrates have come together to perform, selling over 20,000 tickets and securing sponsorships that have raised approximately $2 million for GCTC and local charities. This year, the Lawyer Play Committee selected Cornerstone Housing for Women, an organization that provides emergency shelter, an outreach program, and supportive housing at four locations in Ottawa.
Attendees of the gala performances can look forward to a catered post-show reception, as well as complimentary tastings from names such as Kitchissippi Brewing, Saunders Cider, and Collective Arts. Additionally, there will be a raffle and silent auction with prizes that range from a spa getaway, brewery tours, escape room and haunted walk passes, and more.
About the show
Romance, disguises, wrestling, music, and a lion! – just some of the ingredients that make up the madcap world of Shakespeare's “As You Like It”. All performed for your delight by members of the County of Carleton Law Association as a fundraiser for GCTC and Cornerstone Housing for Women.
Rosalind and Orlando meet at a wrestling match and are immediately smitten with each other. He is a poor farm boy and she is an exiled princess. Torn apart by the whims of the Evil Duke Frederick they are both banished – unbeknownst to each other - to the forest of Arden. In this idyllic and Golden World they meet again, but Rosalind, to protect her identity, is in disguise as the shepherd boy Ganymede.
When she learns that Orlando is still desperately in love with Rosalind, she hatches a plan to keep his attention and admiration. But O! What tangled webs are weaved when other characters' romantic entanglements get tangled in her plans! Will she keep the love of Orlando? Will her own lovesickness annoy the heck out of her Best Friend Celia? Will she be able to run a sheep farm? Will the Shepherdess who fell in love with her disguise derail Rosalind's plans? Will she be reunited with her father who is also hiding in the forest of Arden? And why is there a lion?
Tickets for the Gala evenings (May 1, 2, and 3) are $125 and include a post-show reception and a $75 tax receipt. A special price of $85 for new lawyers (2 years experience or less), valid only for the May 2nd performance, includes a $35 tax receipt. Tickets for the Preview performance on April 30 are $50 and have very nearly sold out. Tickets are available through any cast member or at the GCTC Box Office by calling 613-236-5196 or online at gctc.ca/lawyer-play.
Ottawa Awards - Live Stats
Best Musical - Top 3
1.
NEXT TO NORMAL (Elevator Theatre Company)
12.9% of votes
2.
LEGALLY BLONDE (Carleton Musical Theatre Society)
10.6% of votes
3.
THE PROM (Suzart Productions)
10.4% of votes
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