Production Notes

Love's Labor's Lost (more)

Centennial Park Bandshell

August 19- September 12, 2010

Directed by Denice Hicks

Set Design by 615scenic

Costume Design by June Kingsbury

Music by Tom McBryde

Light Design by Anne Willingham

The Apprentice Company

* Denotes Member of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States

Director's Note: Love's Labor's Lost

“There is no evil angel but love” --Don Adriano de Armado, LLL Iii

LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST is a play without a “bad guy.”   The paradox of the evil angel, Love, creates all the conflict.  The men swear to celibacy, the women come to Navarre on business, yet when the mischievous boy Cupid employs his bow, all are subject to his powers. 

“Let me tell you ‘bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above, and a thing called Love.”  --Herb Newman & Barrington Stuart

In many ways, I think LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST is Shakespeare’s most accessible play.  There is no complicated subplot, no identical twins mistaken for each other, there is no girl dressed as a man and fooling everyone about that, no long lost child or statue brought back to life.  Here we have men, women and nature.  Our production takes place beneath the “tree of life,” and love, in the form of music, is in the air.  The ever-present deer remind us that no matter how sophisticated we think we are, there are always forces of nature playing a role in our lives.  

“And when Love speaks, the voice of all the gods Makes heaven drowsy with the harmony.”  Berowne, LLL IViii

This production is lovingly dedicated to the memory of my mother, Evelyn Hicks, who from now on will always have the best seat in the house.  

Denice Hicks

Love's Labor's Lost Synopsis:

Welcome to the kingdom of Navarre!  Ferdinand is the King, and he wants Navarre to be a prime example of the perfect academy.  He and three friends, Berowne, Longaville and Dumaine, as well as a flamboyant Spanish knight, Don Adriano de Armado, swear to devote themselves for three years to their intellectual studies under the tutelage of a schoolmistress, Holofernes and a pastor, Sir Nathaniel. They agree to fast regularly, to sleep just a few hours a night and to forswear the company of women.

On the very day they make this vow, the Princess of France, three of her ladies (Rosaline, Maria and Katherine), and their chaperone, Boyet, arrive at court to settle a land dispute and to collect money owed to the King of France. Ferdinand finds himself quite taken with the Princess, and old flames between the other loves are sparked.  A tent is set up for the Princess’ party just outside of the kingdom in an attempt to honor the oath of the academy.  Trying not to be discovered, each of the men writes a sonnet and sends a token of love to his lady.  The men spy on each other and discover that they have all broken their vows, and decide that they might as well pursue the ladies, but to avoid perjury, they approach them in disguise as Russians.  Boyet warns the ladies that the men are coming disguised, so the women trick the men with disguises of their own.  The men later return out of costume and the women ridicule them for trying to trick them.

Within the kingdom, no one is immune to Cupid’s powers. Costard, a country bumpkin, finds himself vying with the Spanish knight Armado for the attentions of the lovely dairymaid Jaquenetta. Later, the enamored Holofernes and Sir Nathaniel entertain the court with their production of the Nine Worthies. Costard, Armado and his servant Moth are cast in this lively production.  Marcade, a messenger, soon arrives, bringing news of the French King’s death. Before the ladies hurriedly depart for France, they set each of their gentlemen tasks to be completed in the coming year. The ladies leave, promising to return after the tasks are completed to see if they might consider marriage to the men.