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An early Shakespeare comedy about young scholars in love with the idea of love receives a smoothly entertaining production.
"Love's Labor's Lost" by William Shakespeare. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company
by Bill Marx
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Scene from Huntington Theatre's staging of "Love's Labor's Lost." Photo: Derek Kouyoumjian |
Boston, Mass. - May 29, 2006 -
At first sight, "Love's Labour's Lost" is a difficult play. There are no supernatural sprites or bucolic clinches that add charm to Shakespeare's other romances. In this script, the Bard shows off his genius for exuberant-to-the-max word play -- the catch is that many of its references and jokes are inexplicable today. And the play's melancholic ending can be a problem. Was Shakespeare setting up a sequel that scholars think has been lost? Or is he suggesting there is more to this highbrow mating call than meets the eye?
"Love's Labour's Lost" may be eggheady but it is an amusing script when it is staged -- as it is by the Huntington Theatre Company -- with high spirits. The plot is pure silly -- four young men, led by Ferdinand, the king of Navarre, swear to forgo sensual delights for the sake of higher learning. Next thing you know the Princess of France and her three lovely ladies-in-waiting arrive and the men forget their vows.
At first, the members of the women haters club keep their crushes a secret from each other. Soon they make fools of themselves trying to woo the reluctant women. The theme is Cupid's revenge, but "Love's Labour's Lost" is also about education. What the men and women have to do is learn to love people and not the idea of love. Shakespeare's language is ultra-sophisticated, but he wants to show the limits of words. Thus the major clowns in the play, such as Don Amado, are satirized by laughable bouts of linguistic affectation. So Shakespeare's dark ending makes sense -- it is another way to bring the anxious young people down to earth by showing that love and life is more than a game.
Director Nicholas Martin aptly sets the action during the tail end of the Edwardian era, its demise signaled by a large autumnal tree. He makes good use of music, especially a pianist who becomes part of the action. And he garners performances from his cast members that are vigorous, sometimes to a fault.
As the most fully written of the four men, Berowne, Noah Bean races through his speeches when he should revel in the poetry more. Still, Bean boasts plenty of charisma and his energy is matched by Will LeBow as Don Amado and Jeremy Beck as Moth, his teenaged side kick. Some of the other performances fall short of the called-for lightness of touch, but not enough to spoil a smoothly entertaining production of a comedy about people who know too little about what's really worth knowing.
The Huntington Theatre Company's production of "Love's Labour's Lost" runs through June 11, 2006 at the Boston University Theatre in Boston, Mass. For tickets call 617-266-0800.
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