Last month I went to the Public Theater near St.Mark Square to watch a small-scale revival of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labor’s Lost.” “Love’s Labor’s Lost” is perceived as one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays to Shakespeare lovers but has been shrouded from the general public with other oeuvres like “Romeo and Juliet,” “Julius Caesar,” and “Hamlet.” I personally have never heard of the play until my arrival at the Public Theater nor am I an ardent follower of Shakespeare, yet “Love’s Labor’s Lost” speaks to me like none of his works has ever done.
The story surrounds the medieval society where men are aspiring academics while women are cunning creatures who concerns only about their wellbeing and neglects the unavoidable attraction between the sexes. The men here are Ferdinand the wise King of Navarre (Hoon Lee) and his three learned companions, Berowne (Nick Westrate), Longaville (Keith Eric Chappelle), and Dumaine (Jorge Chacon), who are naïve enough to believe that escaping the outside world would help them quench their thirst of academia. “But t’is not so” in Shakespeare’s words, as Fate has set them up with the acquaintance of the witty Princess of France (Renee Elise Goldsberry) and her three beautiful wenches, Rosaline (Rebecca Brooksher), Katharine (Michelle Beck), and Maria (Samira Wiley). The three men break their vow of seclusion almost immediately upon meeting these beauties and strive to court them with odes, poetries, and accessories.
The ending of the play attributes to the central theme of my Scrapbook, the theme of regrets and hope.
The women, having set their goals to collect the debt that the King of Navarre has owed to their lord, neglect the men’s plead of love and torture them with their sharp tongue. Ironically, they do not get what they want in the beginning, as the King of France die toward the end of the play, prompting them to return home, losing the men’s love and their labor, the money. The tragic conclusion of the plot expresses regrets mainly in the women and me. I envision they regret the outcome of the whole adventure, wishing that what if they had disregard their original incentives and accept the love of the men, what would happen?
Yet the play ends on a high note with the women telling their suitors to meet again in one year to test if their love persists. Ms. Coonrod displays her musical appreciation at the ending of the play where all the actors come together to make a musical, “High School Musical” style. Ferdinand plays the guitar, Holorfernes plays the cello, Sir Nathaniel plays the mini chiming piano, and Dumaine plays the drum while everybody else dances around the gypsy tune. This twist from the original Shakespeare’s play makes the ending seems not so tragic anymore. This adds to the hope for their love and for a brighter future.
Check it out guys. I’m sure you will enjoy it like I do and I am not even a Shakespeare aficionado. And there are many other shows at the Public Theater that you can enjoy, in addition to the cheap-price student-discount ticket.
