"Love's Labour's Lost"

Theatre review
"Love's Labour's Lost" at Cornell University
The Ithaca Journal
December 4, 2008
720 words
"Amusing ‘Love's Labour's Lost' offers classic Shakesperean wordplay"

full text here

Amusing ‘Love's Labour's Lost' offers classic Shakesperean wordplay
BY MARK TEDESCHI • CORRESPONDENT • DECEMBER 4, 2008

Rumor has it that the comedy “Love's Labour's Lost” is one of Shakespeare's least-produced plays. It contains an formidable wealth of wordplay and, says Shakespeare scholar Tucker Brooke, a greater percentage of rhyming lines than any of the Bard's works. It was purportedly intended to be performed for the intellectual students at the prestigious Inns of Court; for these reasons, it's been considered inaccessible to modern audiences. The production currently running at Cornell's Schwartz Center — amusing and absorbing — makes one wonder from whence these cries of esotericim do cometh.

“Labour's” indeed fits its reputation of comprising overt craftiness, but that feature is hardly a handicap; rather, the pleasure of catching any of Shakespeare's rapid-fire witticisms, especially boosted by quality acting, is even more of a treat. And, as in any Shakespeare production, if intent skims by, there's plenty more quips to follow — and moreover, you can still blissfully bask in the words of the best (arguably, I suppose) English-language writer who ever lived.

The comedy, here directed with intimate familiarity by Bruce Levitt (he directed “Labour's” at Cornell 20 years ago), begins with the retired King of Navarre's (Ian Jones) explication of a solemn oath he and his three Lords — Berowne (Jeremy Flynn), Dumaine (Myles Rowland), and Longaville (Chris Romeo) — have taken. They've agreed to spend three years studying, totally free from distractions, but when Berowne realizes the King included women in that lot, he protests and reminds him that the Princess of France (Mary Gilliam) and her three Ladies — Maria (Alicia Weigel), Katherine (Ariel Reed), and Rosaline (Katherine Karaus) — were planning a visit in the near future.

The King agrees to house them nearby, outside the court. As expected, the men fall powerless to their impulses. They promptly fall in love with their color-coded counterparts (by the hand of costume designer Sarah E. Bernstein, though one couple is inexplicably not matched) and even compose love sonnets in secret.

Meanwhile, the clown Costard (Jeffrey Guyton), schoolmaster Holofernes (Sonja Lanzener), Spanish nobleman Don Adriano de Armando (J.G. Hertzler), and his page Moth (Alex Viola) join forces to put on play for the nobles centered around the Nine Worthies. During its presentation, the Princess receives some disturbing news and “Labour's” draws to, by Shakespeare's standards, an unconventional close.

By the time the message is delivered, the background lighting (Daniel Hall, designer) has imperceptibly shifted from a cheery midday blue to a deep, melancholic purple. The rest of “Labour's” looks and sounds pristine--at times, the the spotless set (Sarah Lambert, designer), immaculate regal clothing, and delicate harp interludes (Gary Mackender, composer), border on saccharinity, but appropriately fit the royalty-at-leisure garden setting. The multileveled set extends beyond the stage, too, helping to engage the audience in the jam-packed text; the actors skip and hop about the aisles and even perform from the balcony on either side of the stage.

The cast is composed of professional actors as well as students, though experience doesn't necessarily guarantee reliability. Guyton's energetic Costard convinces as a witty swain and Paul Hebron fits impeccably into the role of Boyet, a nobleman accompanying the French visitors; on the other hand, Hertzler, popularly known for his role as the Klingon Martok on “Star Trek,” lets his accent slip into inconsistency and Lanzener's unpredictable take on Holofernes detracts from the character's potential strength.

Flynn as a skittish but astute Berowne offers the best performance of the leading men, followed closely by Jones as the King. The talents of the four principal actresses were notable as well, but unfortunately, Shakespeare didn't offer them highly distinguishable parts. Viola's scampish Moth, though, entertains in every scene.

“Labour's,” while certainly more approachable than its reputation precedes, stays dated on a few fronts. The slapstick of an extended rear-end-slapping scene is a bit much to bear, and the Latin-language jokes, probably side-splitting to Elizabethan academics, have a dwindling target audience in 2008.

But the familiarity of Shakespeare's predominant themes and plunges into verbal expression will always resonate. When Berowne, in hiding, anticipates hearing Dumaine's love-fueled poem, he declares, “Once more I'll mark how love can vary wit!” As Shakespeare knew of the infinite potency love brings to language, he penned “Love's Labour's Lost” as an atypical, self-conscious story. The main characters recognize the dependable anomaly of love and, in the end, find it ever hopelessly evasive.