Love’s Labour’s Found in the Parks

If you are looking for a delightful, frolicking farce then pitch your picnic blanket in the parks for this summer’s offering from Midsommer Flight: Love’s Labour’s Lost. The players, under the direction of Producing Artistic Director Beth Wolf, bring this romantic comedy to life in the best way – engaging, accessible, and whimsical. Shakespeare in the parks is a summer tradition, and there is no better way to spend a sultry evening than with Midsommer Flight’s all-together entertaining production.

One of Shakespeare’s early plays, Love’s Labour’s Lost may be less well-known than some others, but it is clever, funny, and timely. This work is known for its particular attention to wordplay and exploring the limits of language and poetic form. The adaptation by Wolf keeps all of the comedic moments and sharpens the focus for the audience. The ensemble runs with this script, their witty exchanges shine with the exact right balance of clear expression and quickly-paced repartee. Midsommer Flight adeptly handles the language and references to make the message and the comedy crystal clear. The company is also adroit in the use of physical expression, keeping the audience engaged and further delivering the meaning of each moment.

An aspect of the story that is universal and unfortunately still so relevant is that those in positions of power will break laws with impunity, and that laws will be abused by those with connections to power to advance their own interests and harm others. This is, of course, not Brecht, and not a tragedy – so these facets of the story are merely the background for the high jinks that ensue.

The play opens with three courtiers and King Ferdinand taking oaths to dedicate themselves fully to their studies for three years – primarily by swearing off women. Berowne, one of the courtiers, is wary of this oath and tries various arguments to get around swearing to the restriction. King Ferdinand learns that he himself must soon be in violation of the new law punishing contact with women, as the Princess of France and her three ladies in waiting will be arriving at the castle on an official visit. Clearly these nobles don’t expect the law to apply to them.

Immediately, the decree is put to nefarious use by Don Armado, who is in love with Jaquenetta and seizes the opportunity to eliminate a romantic rival, Costard. The Princess and her ladies arrive but are forced to remain camped outside the palace due to the decree. Despite their oaths the courtiers are smitten with the ladies in waiting, and the King with the Princess. In a farcical turn of events love letters are misdelivered, odes to love are composed, and the forbidden desires are exposed to hidden eyes. The ladies welcome the courtship, until they learn the men intend to visit them in disguise. When the ladies arrange their own masking the men are tricked into misdirecting their oaths of love and loyalty, making them doubly forsworn.

It is a well-established element that in Shakespeare’s comedies everyone gets married at the end; but not in Love’s Labour’s Lost. Although full of the common elements of young lovers, mistaken identities and misdirected courtship, and the ‘play within a play’, this work breaks the mold when the happy couples part, promising to return to each other for weddings after a year. It is interesting that this play is believed to have been written to be performed for Queen Elizabeth I, who famously remained forever unmarried.

Love’s Labour’s Lost is perfectly adapted for an outdoor performance. The staging for opening weekend in Women’s Park made excellent use of the little amphitheater and the surrounding landscaping throughout. The staging in the scene where all the gentlemen hide and spy on each other one-by-one was especially well done in this regard. Given that this production will travel to multiple locations across the city it would be very interesting to compare how the ensemble uses other physical spaces.

Joshua Pennington brings King Ferdinand to life with a wonderfully surprising range of expression that makes Ferdinand a charming satire of a fairytale prince. Pennington is alternately grandiose and demanding, thrown-off and stammering, imperious and eventually vulnerable and earnest. He is delightful as he pines for love then explodes into self-righteous accusation against his forsworn courtiers.

Vanessa Copeland’s Princess is a regal pillar of smart self-control. She is an unflappable goddess around which her flock of ladies-in-waiting flutter. Something about her demeanor conveys that the Princess is always looking at you with her head slightly tilted and one delicate eyebrow pointedly raised. The exchange where Copeland verbally skewers Pennington’s King Ferdinand is a triumph. Copeland’s Princess is not displayed in broad satiric strokes, but in deep seismic shifts – when she seizes on an idea or undergoes a change of emotion it is internal and transmutes the energy of everyone around her.

Longaville (Dane Brandon) and Dumaine (Travis Ascione) are the king’s courtiers, and quite enjoyable counterpoints to each other’s characters. Ascione is earthy and appears to be all but physically overcome, collapsing with desire for his chosen lady. Longaville is bookish, with his head in the clouds of higher love. Brandon hits it out of the park in his moment of creating his iambic pentameter ode to love.

Berowne (Brandon Beach) is the hero, warning the king and all of us of the dangers ahead. Beach has an easy sincerity that makes Berowne genuine and accessible, erasing the distance Shakespearean language can create for modern audiences. Berowne is amusing at first, as he wrestles with making the oath, and then Beach draws the audience in fully as he struggles with breaking the oath in the throes of his love for Rosaline. Berowne’s soliloquys give us windows into his soul, and Beach paints a rich vision there. Beach also gets to be mischievous as he spies on his fellows, and does a wonderful job of putting on self-righteousness disintegrating into stammering embarrassment when he is revealed forsworn.

Rosaline (Danielle Kerr), Katherine (Lydia Moss) and Maria (Juliet Kang Huneke) form a delightful flock of swans, flitting about the Princess, giggling and gossiping about their suitors. The players bring dimension into the gaggle, with distinct personalities and a well-defined pecking order. Kerr gives us a slightly haughty Rosaline, making her the perfect target for Moss’ creative mocking, to the delight of Kang Huneke’s Maria. The trio mesh so well it is easy to imagine they have been together in the service of the Princess for years.

Hayley Rice delivers Boyet as a solid, rather wry member of the Princess’ retinue. Rice gives Boyet a depth and range that speaks to a rich inner life. Boyet is forced to play the role of intermediary between the royal groups, both on and off-stage. Rice brings a complicated mix of amusement, resignation, frustration and camaraderie to her Boyet.

Don Armado (Drew Longo) and Jaquenetta (Ruby Sevcik) are well-matched, feeding off each other’s energy to play up the clownish aspects of the roles. Sevcik fawns exuberantly over Longo’s grand gestures and ridiculous posing. Longo plays the self-important fool with aplomb. Sevcik spins absolute gold out of thin air in an unscripted exchange with a stern and unforgiving Holofernes (Jessica Goforth) as they prepare for the play-within-the-play.

Costard (Travis Shanahan) has some lovely bumbling clowning moments, and does a great job suffering in unrequited love while Jaquenetta swoons over Don Armado. Special note must be given to Michael Girts as Constable Dull. It is not easy to play character who is less than bright, but Girts’ deadpan delivery hits every laugh.

Last but not least, Barry Irving is an absolute treasure as Nathaniel. His choices made Nathaniel a standout in every scene, in a characterization that is unique within the production and at the same time worked perfectly with the spirit of the script and the energy of the ensemble. Irving’s larger-than-life Nathaniel lit up the stage and brought laughs in moments within and beyond Shakespeare’s words.

The cast includes several accomplished musicians whose skills are spotlighted in the play’s musical numbers, and there is sparkling use of sound, music and comedic heraldry sprinkled liberally throughout the production. Sound is always a challenge with outdoor performances, and much of that is beyond the control of the production. There were moments, however, where the music within the scenes overwhelmed the actors’ volume and some dialogue was drowned out. The cast members did well in adjusting their delivery to avoid momentary external noise.

The entire ensemble shines during the Nine Worthies play, and the actors clearly had great fun with the Muscovites / masking scene. The king and courtiers, the princess and ladies, fully embrace the fun of the disguises and fly in the scene of the Muscovites. In these moments especially the players brought so much joy to the performance that the audience was completely enraptured with the company.

Midsommer Flight has brought free performances of Shakespear’s works to Chicago Park District parks, delighting audiences with their high-quality productions of the Bard’s classics since 2012. After their inaugural production, the Chicago City Council honored Midsommer Flight with a resolution praising “the Midsommer Flight theater troupe on their dedication to bringing the arts to underserved communities.” Throughout their thirteen year span the company has been nominated for League of Chicago Theatres “Emerging Theater Award” three times.

Productions are completely free to the public, with donations gratefully welcomed. When you go to enjoy this Chicago tradition, remember to arrive early with your chairs, blankets and picnic!

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Reviewed by Soleil Rodrigue

Love’s Labour’s Lost runs Fridays and Saturdays at 6PM, Sundays at 2PM through August 3. All shows are performed outdoors in Chicago parks.

All performances are free – and donations are welcomed. Full details of the dates and locations may be found online at https://midsommerflight.ticketspice.com/loves-labours-lost