Love’s Labour’s Lost
Director: Christopher Luscombe
Writer: William Shakespeare
Cast: Sam Alexander, Edward Bennett, William Belchambers, Tunji Kasim, Michelle Terry,  Leah Whitaker, Frances McNamee, Flora Spencer-Longhurst, John Hodgkinson, Peter McGovern, Nick Haverson, Emma Manton, Chris McCalphy, David Horovitch, Jamie Newall, Thomas Wheatley, Roderick Smith
Seen on: 11.2.2015

Plot:
King Ferdinand (Sam Alexander) and his entourage Berowne (Edward Bennett), Longaville (William Belchambers) and Dumaine (Tunji Kasim) have decided to devote their time entirely to studying and to foreswear all women (Berowne only with reluctance, though). So it is of course now that the Princess of France (Leah Whitaker) arrives with her handmaidens Rosaline (Michelle Terry), Maria (Frances McNamee) and Katharine (Flora Spencer-Longhurst). Soon all of the men find their vows of abstinence tested – and very much lacking.

I didn’t know Love’s Labour’s Lost before seeing the RSC production – and I can’t imagine a better way to get introduced to this play than this wonderful production that reminded me of how funny Shakespeare actually can be. I immediately fell in love with it.

Luscombe really has a wonderful feeling for comedy, especially because he’s not afraid to really go along with Shakespeare’s silliness. And Shakespeare really can be quite silly, something one tends to forget when seeing his tragedies all the time. Luscombe gives you a bit of slapstick, a bit of meta-humor and even musical humor to go with Shakespeare’s sparkling and witty language. All of it is perfectly timed and had me in stitches.

This is especially true regarding everything John Hodgkinson (who plays Don Armado), Nick Haverson (playing Costard) and Edward Bennett touch, though Michelle Terry and Peter McGovern (playing Moth) aren’t far behind. They really manage to wrangle the most from every moment they have, and I might have had to more or less discreetly wipe away some tears from laughing.

I also loved the production design. Luscombe decided to set the film just before the first World War at an English manor, a time period which lends itself surprisingly to the entire thing. They also stuck to the timeperiod with the music which was pretty great as well. And they cleverly played with the various levels of the manor – from garden to roof.

They decided to make Much Ado About Nothing a sequel to this play and production. Since the ending of the play is surprisingly sad and feels a little out of step, I’m really looking forward to that continuation – and not only because it means a reunion of the dream team assembled here.

Summarizing: Excellent stuff.