By James V. Ruocco
In "Love's Labour's Lost," one of William Shakespeare's earliest and rarely performed comedies, the character of Costard is a silly, foppish court jester positioned by the Bard to make clever puns, mock upper-class society, amaze everyone with his splendid wit and wordplay, prance about with wild abandon, continually mispronounce the name of Spanish braggart Don Adriano de Armado and other foreign names and finally, mix up two very important love letters by giving them to the wrong people.
It's a character-driven plot device that brings cheeky laughter and maddening flourish to Hole in the Wall's giggly, flouncy staging of this broad, driven, amusing Shakespearean comedy.
For David Sherman, the jovial, teenaged actor playing the part of Costard, it's a show-stealing turn of showboating, stumbling, giggling, overplaying, preening, laboring and page-turning merriment that he willingly inhabits with hammy charm, ballsy devotion and gooey-gumdrop, childish fun. From the moment he appears on stage, it's an "in-the-moment" acting choice that is embraced throughout the entire production with everlasting energy, commedia dell'arte tradition and high-spirited lift, gait and well-courted spontaneity.
It hops.
It skips.
It jumps.
It tilts.
It is articulate.
It is clever.
It is poetic.
It is fast and fluid.
It is jolly, good fun.
Rumored to have been written by Shakespeare between 1594 and 1595, "Love's Labour's Lost" is a comic tale of love, thought, scheme, happenstance, confusion and argument.
The silliness of it all is linked to a witty game of diversion and determination involving a group of men who decide to abstain from women - in this case, the Princess of France and her ladies-in-waiting - for three long years of study, fasting, self-improvement and sacrifice.
Love, chaos, comedy and miscommunication ensue, mixed with the Bard's oft-revived puns, twists, turns, squibs, jibes, mistaken identities and happily-ever-after's.
The goofy pleasure that is "Love's Labour's Lost" is matched with respective pleasantry, blithe and cynicism by Maranda Gallo whose directorial credits include the British farce "Don't Dress for Dinner" and "Brothers Grimm Spectacuralathon." Making her official mainstage directorial debut at HITW with this Shakespearean comedy, she crafts a keen, intuitive mounting of comedic love and mischief that is delectable fun, farcical, class-appropriate and innuendo-laden fizzy.
As director, Gallo spins an ironic, flashy, free-for-all of fact and opinion that brings sweep and involvement to the story, the characters, the exchanges, the conflicts, the shuffling, the asides and the laments. Peppered with playful bits of befuddlement, passion, spunk and period-specific satire, she adds fresh energy and adventure to the presentation, ignited by well-orchestrated bend and snap that keeps the material afloat with intrigue, aim, contract and intent. There's also a combined harmony of skill, ingenuity and practicality to Gallo's direction that complements the Bard's power of words, misunderstandings, mischief, romantic pursuits, tomfoolery, character interaction and evolution.
"Love's Labour's Lost" is performed by an ensemble cast of fourteen. They are: William Moro (Ferdinand), Carlos Holden (Berowne), C.S. Dunn (Longaville), Chris Blum (Armado), Krysten Drachenberg (Princess), Meg Farinsky (Rosaline), Sara Lafrance (Maria), Jeanie Tuzzio (Jaquenetta), Wayne Crow (Boyer), John Bosco (Moth), Gene Tellier (Holofernes), David Sherman (Costard), Andrew Fai (Nathaniel/Forester) and Luis Marrero-Solis (Dull/Merrcade).
A team effort, supported by table-turning twinkle, spark and whimsy, the cast, all appropriately linked to the devoted merriment and invention of the Bard's narrative, have great fun using words, emotions, manner and positioning to bring off the cheeky laughter and physical gags of the "Love's Labour's Lost" story.
As they frantically dash about the HITW stage, in sync with the Bard's poetic language and wordplay, they amplify the comedy of the text in all the right moments. They add pace and value to the work itself. They meet the demand of the play's two-hour length with confidence and agreement. As actors, they are corrective and expedient when performing alone, in pairs or as a group. They handle the play's quick passages and soliloquies with consummate ease. The play's glorious buffoonery and mischievous amusement is addressed with energetic whirl and twirl. There's also an overall sense of joy and pride buzzing around them from scene to scene that lasts right through the final bows that end the performance.
A funny, clever and crisp production with laughs and colorful performances aplenty, "Love's Labour's Lost" speaks and swerves in the most entertaining of ways. It rides the wave of showroom snap and kitsch with surprise wit and verve. It is wonderfully intricate and twisty. It gets laughs in all the right places. It is also recharged with a certain vitality, sweetness and goofy gaze by director Marando Gallo that lingers most agreeably.
Photos of "Love's Labour's Lost" courtesy of Mason Beiter/Mason Media Photography
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