October 30 – November 17, 2024 | Center Theatre, Seattle Armory
In This Program
- Cast
- Letter from Artistic Relations & Casting Coordinator, Pilar O’Connell
- Director’s Notes
- Synopsis
- Who’s Who
- Visual Poetry: Insight on the Approach to the Costume World
- The Language of Love’s Labor’s Lost
- Print Edition
- More about Seattle Shakespeare Company
John Bradshaw, Executive Director • Jocelyne Fowler, Director of Production
Love’s Labor’s Lost
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Cast
Ferdinand, the King of Navarre
Jesse Calixto**
Jaquenetta
Ana María Campoy**
Costard
Rolando Cardona
Male Cast Understudy
Adrian Cerrato
Female Character Understudy
Anamaria Guerzon
Berowne
Tyson Prince Jenkins
Katharine/Moth
Pearl Mei Lam
Boyet
Donovan Mahannah
The Princess of France
Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako*
Rosaline
Beth Pollack
Armado
Malex Reed
Dumaine/Dull
Morgan Gwilym Tso
Creative Team
Director
Janet Hayatshahi
Assistant Director
Anahita Sepehri
Movement Director
Alice Gosti
Scenic Designer
Parmida Ziaei
Costume Designer
Jocelyne Fowler
Lighting Designer
Jacob Viramontes
Sound Designer
Sandra Huezo-Menjivar
Properties Designer
Robin Macartney
Dramaturge
Paul Adolphsen
Text Coach
Amy Thone
Original Compositions
Malex Reed
Production Staff
Lead Producer
Pilar O’Connell
Stage Manager
Lily Nguyen**
Assistant Stage Manager
Philomena Schnoebelen**
Technical Director
Benjamin Radin
Lead Electrician
Clint Bull
Lead Audio Engineer
Conor Fortner
Wardrobe Supervisor
Kacey Kamps
Production Associate
Emily Kight
Properties Manager
Robin Macartney
Costume Shop Manager
Joel Reid
First Hand
Leny Shen
Lead Builder
Dan Schuy
Scenic Charge Artisans
Matthew Lazore and Jennifer Heckman
* denotes member of Actor’s Equity Association
** denotes artist under AEA contract
The taking of pictures or the making of recordings of any kind during the performance is strictly prohibited.
Letter from Artistic Relations & Casting Coordinator
Pilar O’Connell
A unified body of individuals.
–Merriam Webster
That is my favorite definition of community. It’s simple, it’s to the point, it feels welcoming, and it feels like theatre, or, at the very least, what theatre should be. The words of Shakespeare have been engaging communities for over 400 years. They have spanned time and space, language, social and economic class. All of us who have been lucky enough to speak those words, or read or hear them, are part of the community that those very words began engaging 400 years ago – the community of storytellers.
When the Drum & Colours program was launched pre-pandemic, it was aimed at fostering healthy relationships with underserved populations within the Seattle artistic community. There are many institutional barriers in classical theatre; these barriers have prevented certain groups of people from participating in this community of storytelling that began 400 years ago. The first season of the program sought to heal systemic trauma while connecting historically neglected groups to professional career opportunities.
When I talk about Drum & Colours, people will often ask if I think we have succeeded at what we sought to do. I don’t think it’s a yes or no question; I think it is fluid and ongoing. Work has been done, some successful and some not. What I can confidently say is that Drum & Colours has built a community of its own, and that community grows every year. It is an inclusive and safe community to make bold and beautiful artistic choices, a community to do your best work, fail glamorously, be held up by your peers, and a place to bring your authentic self to the table. In my humble opinion the Drum & Colours community is the truest embodiment of what we like to say here at Seattle Shakespeare Company, “Shakespeare for Everybody.”
As this is my last welcome letter as the Lead Producer for Drum & Colours, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Drum & Colours company members, past and present. Thank you so much for all the work you have contributed and continue to contribute in building this community. It has made the Seattle art scene richer.
You, our audience, are now part of our community. Welcome, we are glad you’re here.
Pilar O’Connell
Drum and Colours Lead Producer
Director’s Notes
by Janet Hayatshahi
Love’s Labor’s Lost Act IV, scene iii
It is commonly said that all Shakespeare’s comedies end in marriage. Spoiler alert: Not so, here. The title of this play makes it clear – we will have love and lose it. In the words of one of our lovers, Berowne, “Our wooing doth not end like an old play. Jack hath not Jill. These ladies’ courtesy might well have made our sport a comedy.”
That makes losing the “labors” of love in this play nontraditional at the very least, among Shakespeare’s comedies. This odd ending, however, is, in part, a product of the play’s complex representations of gender – for its time – and the political implications of those representations. Throughout the play, the men – who disavowed women at the outset, in order to be scholars and make Navarre a “little academe” – pursue their impulsive enamorment, unable to control their own emotions. The women are in control throughout.
In the end of the play, the King of Navarre, suitor to the Princess of France, says to her “Now at the latest minute of the hour, Grant us your loves.” In short, he seems to say, “Let’s end this like a traditional Shakespearean comedy and get married RIGHT NOW.” He, and his fellow loverboys are clearly – in the words of a modern bard – hot to go.* The women, perhaps embracing some sort of femininominon, are less so.*
This impulse to marry all-of-a-sudden-like, however, comes bizarrely and inconsiderately at the heels of the announcement of the death of the Princess’ father. This prompts the Princess’ conditional rejection of her suitor’s “offer made in the heat of blood.” Her rejection of this marriage proposal is, for everyone, a final, serious reckoning with death – whose specter haunts us from the beginning. From the first scene, the death of the Princess’ “decrepit, sick, and bedrid father” has been looming. She tells the King of Navarre to go to “some rough hermitage” for a year and says, in one of the most beautiful passages of Shakespeare, “If frosts and fasts, hard lodging, and thin weeds nip not the gaudy blossoms of your love, but that it bear this trial, and last love; then, at the expiration of the year, come challenge me, challenge me by these deserts...” In other words, if he can be contemplative and patient for a year and he is still in love, then he can ask to marry her again. Good luck, babe.*
Furthermore, the backdrop for this play was the end of a recent war, and the language of war (e.g, besieged, soldier) is used as metaphor throughout. Meanwhile, the pervasive war of language launches barrages of wit, with malapropisms raining collateral confusion, all assuring us that, despite the weighty notes of gender politics and death, this is still a comedy.
*Apologies to Chappell Roan.
Synopsis
The King of Navarre and his friends, Berowne and Dumaine, make a vow to devote three years to scholarly study, avoiding all distractions, especially women. Almost immediately, the Princess of France arrives at Navarre’s court with her ladies, Rosaline and Katharine, on a diplomatic mission. Forced to camp outside the court due to the men’s oath, the women quickly capture the attention of the men, who fall hopelessly in love – Berowne with Rosaline, Dumaine with Katharine, and King Ferdinand with the Princess.
Meanwhile, Don Armado, a Spanish fool, is infatuated with Jaquenetta, a local maid. When he catches Costard, a foolish clown, wooing Jaquenetta, Armado has Costard imprisoned. He later releases him and asks him to deliver a love letter to Jaquenetta. Meanwhile, Berowne entrusts Costard with a love letter to deliver to Rosaline. Costard accidentally mixes up the letters, complicating the romantic dynamics and revealing Berowne’s failure to abide by his oath.
To each other, the men pretend to maintain their commitment to their oath. They each write a love letter to their respective lady. They each wind up spying on one another confessing their love.
Realizing that none of them has kept their vow, the men unite in their pursuit of the women. However, the women, aware of the men’s deceptions, decide to play a trick on them by switching identities at a masque, leading the men to woo the wrong lady.
To impress the women, the men organize a play within a play, performed by Armado, Costard, Dull, Moth, and Jaquenetta. Just as the couples seem ready to unite, news arrives of the Princess’s father’s death, abruptly ending the revelry.
The Princess and her ladies charge the men with the challenge of proving their love by waiting a year before reuniting. The play concludes with each suitor accepting this challenge.
Characters
(in order of appearance)
King of Navarre, also known as Ferdinand
Berowne, a lord attending the King
Dumaine, a lord attending the King
The Princess of France
Rosaline, a lady attending the Princess
Katharine, a lady attending the Princess
Boyet, a lord attending the Princess
Armado, the Braggart, also known as Don Adriano de Armado
Moth, Armado’s Page
Jaquenetta, the Wench
Costard, the Clown
Dull, the Constable
Characters you won’t find in our version
Holofernes, the pedant or schoolmaster
Nathaniel, the curate
Maria, a lady attending the Princess
Longaville, a lord attending the King
Marcade, a messenger from France
Who’s Who
Cast
Jesse Calixto
Ferdinand, the King of Navarre
Jesse Calixto (He/Him) is a Latinx actor, musician and playwright who graduated from the University of Idaho with a BFA in Theatre Performance. Jesse has worked with The Seattle Rep, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Intiman, Book-it, Reboot, Greenstage, Island Shakespeare Festival, Short Order Theatre, and Burien Actors Theatre. He was recently nominated for Best Performance - Supporting Actor by the Sound on Stage Awards for his work in The Comedy of Errors at Seattle Shakespeare.
Ana María Campoy
Jaquenetta
Ana María Campoy is a Chicana theatre artist, educator, engagement consultant, and activist. Theatre work: The 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle Rep, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare, Arts Corps, Village Theatre, ArtsImpact’s Voices from the Fields, and OSF’s FUERTE. Cherished roles include Catherine in a bilingual adaptation of David Auburn’s Proof, which she co-translated alongside director Arlene Martínez-Vásquez. She has developed and directed half a dozen bilingual Shakespeare adaptions (Seattle Shakespeare, New Mexico Shakespeare Festival) and tours nationally in La Causa (Living Voices). Outside the arts, she works with WashMasks Mutual Aid, focusing on farmworker justice (@washmasks). Love to Jesse and Luna.
Rolando Cardona-Roman
Costard
Rolando (he/him) is excited to make their debut on the SSC mainstage as Costard in Love’s Labor’s Lost. Some recent credits include the following: Macbeth as Macbeth (Seattle Shakespeare Education Tour); Sister Act as Pablo (Taproot Theatre); Ride the Cyclone: The Musical as Noel Gruber (Ballyhoo Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher as Grempkin/Fighting Prawn (Reboot Theatre Company); and HAIR as George Berger (Renton Civic Theatre). Rolando gives thanks to their friends, family, and partner for their continued love and support.
Adrian Cerrato
Male Character Understudy
Adrian Cerrato is elated to be working with Seattle Shakespeare again! He was previously seen in SSC’s touring production of Romeo y Julieta as Capulet and Big Brother in Carmela Full of Wishes at Seattle Children’s Theatre. His favorite rolls include all four lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Off Road Shakespeare, Troilus in Troilus and Cressida, Victor Frankenstein in Frankenstein at Burien Actors Theatre, and the Beast at SecondStory Repertory’s production of Charles Way’s Beauty and the Beast. Adrian received his BA in drama from the University of Washington.
Anamaria Guerzon
Female Character Understudy
Anamaria Guerzon (She/They) is a Filipino-American actor, playwright and dramaturg. Anamaria is thrilled to be making their Seattle Shakes debut! Selected acting credits include: Swing (Songs of the Moon, The 5th Ave Theatre), Fay Apple (Anyone Can Whistle, Reboot), Student (TRYING, Book It Rep), Nancy (Yellow Fever, Centerstage Theatre). Their playwriting work has been developed with The Playwright Realm’s Scratchpad Series (dir. May Adrales) and Seattle Public Distillery (dir. Zenaida Smith). When she’s not making theatre, she is finding all the best stickers. Follow @anamarialives to keep tabs on their adventures!
Tyson Prince Jenkins
Berowne
Tyson came home to Washington last fall. Tyson grew up in Olympia. An English major at the University of Washington, Tyson Performed in an MFA production of Till the Day I Die by Clifford Odets, directed by Andy McGinn. For his next show, Tyson joined Julie Beckman’s production of The Secret in the Wings by Mary Zimmerman. Tyson and his beautiful new wife, Jamielyn, live in South Lake Union, within sight of the campus where they first met as wide-eyed freshman, 16 years ago.
Pearl Mei Lam
Katharine/Moth
Pearl Mei Lam is an actor and comedian delighted to make their Seattle Shakespeare debut with this incredible cast and crew. Favorite stage credits include Seattle Public Theater’s Unrivaled and Once More, Just For You, their solo show XXX Island, and queer comedy Put Your Hands Together with Woody Shticks. As an improviser, they have performed with ComedySportz, Jet City, and at the Laughs Comedy Club. Onscreen credits include Going Home on Pure Flix and In the Summer Rain, and they recently completed Freehold Theatre’s Meisner program. Get more at pearllam.me!
Donovan Mahannah
Boyet
Donovan Mahannah (He/Him) is excited to be back with Seattle Shakespeare Company, having appeared previously as Sebastian/Illyrain in Twelfth Night. Recent credits include God’s Favorite (Passinart Theatre), Spring Awakening (The 5th Avenue Theatre), Brown Bodies on a Blue Earth (The Underground Theatre), Romeo & Juliet and Bold Stroke for a Husband (Island Shakespeare Festival). Donovan sends endless gratitude and love to his family and friends. Thank you for continuing to support live theatre! Enjoy the show!
Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako
The Princess of France
Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist who enjoys collaborating with innovators who spark her curiosity. Nako is the writer and composer of the new musical Photosynthesis, developed at the JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals and featured in their 2024 Festival of New Musicals. She is a member of ACT Contemporary Theatre’s Core Company, and directed STEW there earlier this season. Selected stage credits include The Crucible, A Christmas Carol, Dracula, Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (ACT); As You Like It, A Raisin in the Sun (Seattle Rep); Red Riding Hood, Snow White (SCT); A Bright Room Called Day (The Feast).
Beth Pollack
Rosaline
Beth Pollack (she/her) is a Seattle-based performer, dramaturg, and teaching artist. Previous Seattle Shakespeare Company credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V Bar(d), Macbeth, Hamlet, and dramaturgy for Henry IV. She has performed in 14 (now 15!) of Shakespeare’s 37 plays, including seven appearances with Dacha Theatre’s Dice series. Beth is the Dramaturg and Curriculum Specialist at The 5th Avenue Theatre and is the Associate Producer of Literary Management at Dacha Theatre. Beth holds a BA in Theatre Studies and the Historicization of Dramatic Literature from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and would be happy to explain what that means. More at beth-pollack.com.
Malex Reed
Armado
Malex Reed studied Vocal Performance, Music Composition, Theatrical Directing, and Playwriting at Cornish College of the Arts and has worked with Seattle Shakespeare Company, Cafe Nordo, Intiman Theatre, and Reboot Theatre. Malex directs the PwA Singers, through a local non-profit called Path With Art that works to give arts education access to underserved communities. They are also the lead singer/songwriter for the band Neither Bears Nor Forest.
Morgan Gwilym Tso
Dumaine/Dull
Morgan Gwilym Tso (He/They) is thrilled to be back with Seattle Shakespeare Company for Love’s Labor’s Lost, having most recently been on this stage in Romeo and Juliet. Other local credits include Sanctuary City (Seattle Rep); A Christmas Carol and Wolf Play (ACT Contemporary Theatre); and Peter and the Starcatcher (Reboot Theatre Company). He graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies, and is grateful for the continuous support of his family and friends, near and far. @morgan_tgt
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 45-thousand actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
Production Staff
Janet Hayatshahi
Director
Janet Hayatshahi is an Iranian actor and director. Select directing credits include: A Vast Hoard at Chalk Rep/Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, A Man, His Wife, and His Hat (later The Hatmaker’s Wife) at Moxie Theatre, 9 Parts of Desire at Mo’olelo PAC, The Turn of the Screw at Cygnet Theatre, Thirsting for Salt at Grüntaler9 in Berlin, Germany, and co-director of Launching Ship (her solo piece) based on the Helen of Troy myth. She served as assistant director to Robert Woodruff’s Notes from Underground at La Jolla Playhouse and has directed many productions at the university/college level. Her interests are in non-traditional performance environments and poetics in the use of space and architecture, particularly as they apply to bodies in performance. Janet is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Seattle University. MFA, University of California, San Diego. Member of AEA and associate member of SDC. For Lieutenant Colonel Abbas Hayatshahi. Hayatshahi.com
Anahita Sepehri
Assistant Director
Anahita Sepehri (she/her) is an artist who loves how theatre can change people. She has worked on productions like My Name is Rachel Corrie and The Lower Depths at Intiman, The Tempest and Little Women at Seattle Rep, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Seattle Shakespeare Company. She has also worked on plays like The Forgotten History of Mastaneh and Not Our Town at Pony World Theatre. Anahita believes that theatre helps us see ourselves more clearly and understand important truths about life.
Alice Gosti
Movement Director
Alice Gosti (she/her) is an Italian-American immigrant choreographer, performance artist, and DJ, working between Seattle and Europe since 2008. She often works under the name MALACARNE. She has received numerous awards, including the 2021 Princess Grace Choreography Honoraria, the 2013 Vilcek Creative Promise in Dance Award, and the 2016 NEFA National Dance Project Grant. Her work has been commissioned by institutions like On the Boards, Seattle Art Museum, and Jacob’s Pillow. Gosti also works extensively as a Movement Director and Choreographer for theaters, including Merrimack Repertory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and ACT Contemporary Theatre, among others.
Parmida Ziaei
Scenic Designer
Parmida Ziaei is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Seattle and the co- founder of Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble. Parmida has been a scenic and production designer with many Seattle theaters including Seattle Shakespeare Company, ACT Contemporary Theatre, Village Theatre, ArtsWest, Taproot Theatre, Seattle Public Theater, among others. When not designing, Parmida performs, choreographs and teaches as a movement artist and serves as a consultant and curator. Parmida has been the recipient of multiple residencies including the 2022 Northwest Creator Residency at Village Theatre. parmidaziaei.com
Jocelyne Fowler
Costume Designer
Jocelyne Fowler has designed for Seattle Shakespeare Company (Twelfth Night the Musical, Arms and the Man, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Titus Andronicus, Richard II, etc.), Taproot Theatre Company (A Woman of No Importance, The Spitfire Grill, Babette’s Feast, Steel Magnolias, Arsenic and Old Lace, Lady Windermere’s Fan, etc.), Book-It Repertory Theatre (Howl’s Moving Castle, Jane Eyre, Treasure Island, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, Anna Karenina, etc.), ArtsWest (Born With Teeth, Head Over Heels, The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion, Office Hour), Harlequin Productions, Vashon Opera, Youth Theatre Northwest, SecondStory Repertory, Bellevue College, Roosevelt High School, Overlake School, and others. She is the recipient for the 2016 Gregory Award in Outstanding Costume Design. jocelynefowler.com
Jacob Viramontes
Lighting Designer
Jacob Viramontes is delighted to be making his Seattle Shakespeare debut! Jacob has a BFA in Acting & Directing with a minor in Technical Theatre & Design from Pacific Lutheran University. Recent Lighting Design credits include: The Hatmaker’s Wife (Drama Dock), Damn Yankees, Anyone Can Whistle, and Peter and the Starcatcher (Reboot Theatre Company), Come On Get Tappy! (Outrage Onstage/SecondStory Repertory), 53% Of (Sound Theatre Company), 10 Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith (Centerstage Theatre), Red (Burien Actors Theatre), and 14/48 Seattle Weekend Two - Spring 2024 (The 14/48 Projects).
IG: @jacobviramontestheatre
Sandra Huezo-Menjivar
Sound Designer
Sandra Huezo-Menjivar (they/she) is a sound designer and audio engineer based in Seattle, WA. Recent credits include Seattle Shakespeare Company’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Sound Designer), ReAct’s Theatre’s Animals Out of Paper and Letters of Suresh (Assistant Sound Designer), Village Theatre KIDSTAGE’s Finding Nemo Jr. (Sound Designer), and Cornish College of the Arts’s Desdemona’s Child (blood cry) (Sound Designer). They are so happy to be working with SSC again and would like to thank everyone on the production and design teams for all their excellent work! You can find them on Instagram @menjivar_sound.
Robin Macartney
Props Designer
Robin Macartney (she/her) is an award-winning set and prop designer who has been fortunate to work with a large number of the theater companies in Seattle and the Puget sound area. She is the resident set designer at Theatre Off Jackson, the props manager for Seattle Shakespeare, as well as the former scene shop supervisor for the University of Puget Sound’s theater department.
Paul Adolphsen
Dramaturg
Paul Adolphsen (he/him) is a Seattle-based dramaturg, writer, and literary manager. He has been on the artistic staff at Seattle Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Paul has also worked as a dramaturg with Taproot Theatre, Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, Ashland New Plays Festival, and with other companies around the U.S. He was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), and his writing about theater and performance has been published in Theatre Journal, on howlround.com, and by Penumbra Theatre Company. M.F.A.: University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Amy Thone
Text Coach
Amy is proud to be working with this wild and remarkable cast on this beautiful and weird play. Ms. Thone first worked at the Seattle Shakespeare Company (then Festival) in 1994, doing educational tours all over the state for many years. This consistent deep-dive into the canon is where her knowledge and love of Shakespeare took root, and for those many early-morning 4-person Romeo and Juliets in Puyallup and regions beyond, she will always be grateful. She teaches Shakespeare at the University of Washington, contemporary realism at Cornish College of the Arts, and also loves any and all teaching at Freehold Studio Theatre. She is the always proud mom of Stella and Charlotte.
Lily N Nguyen
Stage Manager
Lily is extremely excited to be stepping into her first production with Seattle Shakespeare Company! Her previous credits include: A Midsummer DICE Dream with Dacha Theatre; The Moors, The Wolves, The Oresteia (ASM), and Airness (Scenic) with The University of Washington; and Iphigenia and Other Daughters (ASM) with The College of Wooster. She offers that every day is an opportunity for new action. Thank you for being here today.
Philomena Schnoebelen
Assistant Stage Manager
Phil is very excited to be working with Seattle Shakespeare on Love’s Labor’s Lost! Originally from Minnesota, she is a graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU). At MNSU she worked as the Assistant Stage Manager on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Newsies, and Mother and Sons, and as the Production Stage Manager on Wounded Healers, I Am a Camera, and the Spring Dance Concert. When she’s not backstage she enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and zip lining.
Clint Bull
Lead Electrician
An electrician and lighting designer, Clint Bull has been working in the greater Seattle area since 2020. He couldn’t be more excited to be returning for the start of a new season at Seattle Shakespeare!
Leny Shen
First Hand
Leny Shen is an American-born Chinese artist with diverse practices in illustration, comics, painting, printmaking, fashion design, and music. Since graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design with a BFA in Fashion Design and a minor in Sequential Art, Leny has served as Costume Assistant on Macbeth: A Rock Musical and Costume Designer on Once More, Just For You and The Clockwork Professor, all at Seattle Public Theater. Leny is grateful for the opportunity to grow familiar with a new company and excited to work with SSC for the first time!
Will You Share the Love?
We Need Your Support More Than Ever
We are so pleased you joined us for this production of Love’s Labor’s Lost! It means the world to us to have you part of the Seattle Shakespeare community.
Now is the hardest time for non-profit arts in the history of this country. Even as we discuss a potential merger with ACT Contemporary Theatre, we cannot do our work without you.
- If you value professional productions of Shakespeare, of classics, of works that explore the heart of these plays such as last season’s Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, and The Bed Trick
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Most of all, thank you for being part of Seattle Shakespeare and sharing the love!
Visual Poetry: Insight on the Approach to the Costume World
by Jocelyne Fowler, Costume Designer
When approaching the visual world of Love’s Labor’s Lost, I wanted to evoke timelessness, fantasy and charm while bringing each character distinctly to life. I wanted to give a heightened sense to the world of the play, and create a fun and lighthearted aesthetic to support the beauty of the language and its comedic style.
For the upper class characters – the King, the Princess, and their friends – I designed the costumes to show softness and elegance through the strategic use of color, pattern, and fabric choices. They are all dressed in pastel shades, and the fabrics are lightweight with softness and flow. Each character’s costume complements their counterparts. I also chose to use motifs of nature – florals, bees and butterflies – in the visuals of each romantic couple’s costumes. The images of nature further emphasize the delicate nature of the upper class as well as the outdoorsy setting.
The King and his friends have silhouettes that are similar to each other; they speak to the oath they’ve made to focus on learning over other worldly desires. The result is a collegiate uniform feel. The Princess and her friends enter with a level of regality illustrated through tulle-style capes and skirt-trains, but through the repurposing of these clothing pieces, their costumes support the characters’ true nature of capability and ingenuity.
To juxtapose the lower class/comedic characters, I decided to use leather fabrics to evoke a utilitarian, working-class vibe. The contrast of a fabric that is sturdier and can take more wear and tear further illustrates the softness of the upper class. Don Armado, Jaquenetta and Costard are also linked together through color: black and red.
These characters also have the delight of portraying the “worthies,” a play within the play that highlights the ridiculous situations and many missteps in Love’s Labor’s.
I approached the costumes of the worthies as an opportunity to really play up the comedy. The costume items used are quick and easy to throw on, meant to convey the average person if they were playing dress up.
I hope my final designs evoke a world that feels cohesive and complimentary to the scenic and lighting world. I hope our designs work hand in hand together to support Shakespeare’s words, the actors and the heart of the story.
The Language of Love’s Labor’s Lost
by Paul Adolphsen, Dramaturg
Keep Your Ears Open
Love’s Labor’s Lost is a play that delights in language. Metaphor, puns, contrast, malapropisms, repetition – Shakespeare wields all these rhetorical devices to tell the story about the King of Navarre and his misguided friends. In Shakespeare’s time, people said that they were going to “hear” a play. So here are some things to keep your ears open for, as you enter the madcap world
of Navarre.
Textual History
It’s generally accepted that Love’s Labor’s Lost was written between 1594 and 1595, but no later than 1598. The play is considered one of Shakespeare’s early comedies, and its profusion of language has suggested to some critics the enthusiasm (and lack of restraint) characteristic of a young writer.
Unlike other plays by Shakespeare, Love’s Labor’s Lost does not appear to have source material. Like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest, the play’s story was created solely by Shakespeare, with stylistic and structural influences from contemporary writers like Sir Philip Sidney and the playwright John Lyly.
Types
One source for Shakespeare may have been the stock characters of the Commedia dell’arte tradition, which would have been familiar to Elizabethan audiences. These types can be seen in the characters of Don Armado (the braggart soldier), Costard (the Arlecchino, or clown), Jaquenetta (the wench), Dull (the constable), and Moth (the page).
By The Numbers
The text of Love’s Labor’s Lost is notable when compared to other plays in Shakespeare’s canon:
- It features the longest scene in Shakespeare (Act 5, Scene 2), clocking in at 942 lines in the first folio. By comparison, The Comedy of Errors has 1786 lines total.
- It features the longest single word in a play by Shakespeare: “honorificabilitudinitatibus.”
- Depending on editorial choices, it contains the longest speech in all of Shakespeare’s plays (Berowne’s speech in Act 4, Scene 3).
Rhetorical Flourishes
Shakespeare uses all the tricks up his linguistic sleeve in Love’s Labor’s Lost. Here are a few to listen for as you enjoy the play:
Rhyme: Over a third of the lines in the play rhyme, making it the most heavily rhymed play in Shakespeare’s canon.
Polyptoton: “the use, in rapid succession, of two words with the same root.” A good example comes in the first speech of the play, when the King of Navarre says: “Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives, / Live registered upon our brazen tombs, / And then grace us in the disgrace of death,”
Malapropism: “the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase.” Costard is the king of malapropisms, which contribute to the hilarious confusions that fuel the plot. For instance, he says that he “reprehends” instead of “represents” Don Armado.
Puns: “a humorous use of a word or phrase that has several meanings or that sounds like another word.” These run rampant through the text, and are often a chance for characters to play, flirt, or fight with each other.
Enumeration and Repetition: Enumeration is “the act of naming things separately, one-by-one,” while repetition is, “the act of doing or saying something again.” Berowne enumerates when he says, “O, what a scene of fool’ry have I seen, / Of sighs, of groans, of sorrow, and
of teen!”
Sources
Woudhuysen, H.R. “Introduction.” Love’s Labour’s Lost, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, U.K., 2020, pp. 1–87.
https://www.playshakespeare.com/study/play-lengths
https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/loves-labors-lost/loves-labors-lost-a-modern-perspective
https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/loves-labors-lost/reading-shakespeares-language-loves-labors-lost
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