“Love’s Labour’s Lost” cast
You don’t have to have lived through the 1980s to know the vibe: girls just wanted to have fun, the boys were back in town, and everybody wanted to rule the world.
Cuffed blazers, neon socks, rubber bangles, pin-covered denim jackets—there’s something wonderfully whimsical about that decade, especially when we can pick and mix it 40 years on, and that makes it the perfect setting for one of Shakespeare’s fluffier plays.
And “Love’s Labour’s Lost” is pretty fluffy. The play opens with four young men—one of whom is Ferdinand, king of Navarre—swearing an oath to spend three years studying philosophy while also completely avoiding women. The ink isn’t quite dry on their pledge when someone reminds Ferdinand that the beautiful princess of France and her three-girl retinue are scheduled to arrive that very day on a diplomatic mission. Whoops.
However, while no relationship in this play is particularly deep or complex, “Love’s Labour’s Lost” does offer food for thought. Through the developing connections among the eight young people, the play explores that liminal time between childhood and adulthood, when the weight of adult responsibilities grows ever greater but the tools for coping with that weight are still new and fragile.
For director Clark Nicholson, that makes a college campus a natural and resonant setting for this story.
“Those years at college are very formative,” he explained. “People are just figuring out who they are, what they think is important, who they’re attracted to, and what their values are.”
For example, Ferdinand really wants to be a good king, and his friends want to do right by him, even if he is inclined to take things a little too far. The oath he imposes—not just on himself and his friends but on his whole court—might be extreme, but it comes from an honest desire to improve.
Setting the play in the ’80s makes thematic and design sense in several ways, says Nicholson. Perhaps most obviously, the music and fashions are familiar and charmingly appealing. Costume designer Victoria Wojciechowski has imaginatively combined the two by asking the cast to send her three ’80s songs that each actor believes define their character. Using that collaborative playlist as inspiration, her aim is to design a clear look for each character.
Another way the setting makes sense is because the ’80s is both the very recent past and a world away. Directing Shakespeare, Nicholson points out, means staying sharply aware of how societal attitudes have changed.
Of course, a 400-year-old script feels antiquated in places, but it can be shocking to see just how much the world has grown since “The Breakfast Club” came out 40 years ago. That film didn’t age too badly, but other John Hughes movies, like “Pretty in Pink,” are painfully out of step with current values. Giving show audiences a double lens to peer through—40 years, 400 years—subtly poses important and timely questions about where we’ve come from and where we’re heading.
That some questions don’t have simple answers is the philosophical heart of “Love’s Labour’s Lost.” Unlike other Shakespearean comedies, this play doesn’t end with a wedding or any other kind of firm resolution. Instead, it looks to an uncertain future that is yet to be shaped, acknowledging that our choices, the ones we make every day, are what essentially determine our characters, our lives and our loves.
Of course, a play about young love set on a college campus in the ’80s is also just appealingly nostalgic, replete with the kind of silly fun that makes for great outdoor Shakespeare. Whether you come for the will-they-won’t-they romantic energy, the antics of the very commedia dell’arte clowns, or the wise-cracking Beatrice-and-Benedick prototype of Rosaline and Berowne, you’ll find something appealing to while away a moonlit summer night.
“Love’s Labour’s Lost” runs May 30 to June 14 at the bandshell in Reservoir Park, Harrisburg, with shows Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.gamuttheatre.org/fsip.
“Shakespeare in the Park” is always free. Gamut Theatre recommends that patrons bring a chair or blanket for seating, remember sunscreen and bug spray, and arrive early to claim a great spot. They will also be accepting canned goods for the Bethesda Mission.
UPCOMING EVENTS
At Gamut Theatre
www.gamuttheatre.org
717-238-4111
“Love’s Labour’s Lost”
Harrisburg Shakespeare Company
Free Shakespeare in the Park
Reservoir Park
May 30 to June 14
Wednesdays to Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.
At Open Stage
www.openstagehbg.com
717-232-6736
“The Colored Museum”
May 31 to June 19
A satirical and provocative exploration of Black American identity
In partnership with Sankofa African American Theatre Company
Black NewsBeat
Dr. Kimeka Campbell leads conversations on culture and activism.
Wednesday, June 11, 7 p.m.
Open Stage Gala
Celebrating Season 40
At King Mansion
Sunday, June 22
EFF Live!
A night of outrageous, comedic erotic fan fiction readings
Thursday, June 26, 7:30 p.m.
OSHKids Summer
“Finding Nemo Kids”
Enrolling now for class starting June 9
Performances June 27 & 28
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