Theatre| Love’s Labours LostKen Longworth
UNDER OATH: From left, Elyse Keller, Robert Lewis, Liam Walsh, Adam Hall and Alex Simpson, in Love’s Labours Lost.WILLIAM Shakespeare’s comedy Love’s Labours Lost starts with a young new king telling his trio of same age male attendants that as he is still studying he has taken an oath not to have the company of women for the three remaining years of his scholarship. And he wants them to make the same pledge.
While the men reluctantly obey his command, the almost immediate arrival of the attractive young princess of neighbouring France, accompanied by an entourage which includes three beautiful ladies-in-waiting, puts the four oath-givers to the test while the two royals discuss matters that affect both their kingdoms.
All manner of ruses are tried to get around the pledges, with the men and women constantly finding themselves in awkward situations. And their furtive actions raise problems for the relationship between the king’s country, Navarre, and France.
Maitland Repertory’s Reamus Youth Theatre is staging Love’s Labours Lost as its annual Shakespeare production, opening on August 11. The production has a cast of 15, aged 16 to 25, who will wear contemporary clothes to show the timelessness of the people and their behaviour.
Director Joanne McAndrews said that as well as having to deliver bright comedy, much of which is in verse, cast members also voice amusing songs.
Alex Simpson, who plays Berowne, one of the king’s friends, who is described by another character as “a merry madcap lord”, sees him as a joker and more readily dressing up as a Russian in one disguise scene than his compatriots. While he is virtually the king’s right-hand man, he is sceptical about the feasibility of the woman-free vow.
Elyse Keller, as the Princess, whose name is never revealed, said she is very authoritative, but also has a funny side, teasing the men, much to their irritation.
They increasingly think they have found true love, coming closer to her ladies-in-waiting as the visit is extended because of negotiation difficulties.
Several of the male roles are being played by girls, with Milly Lambert as Boyet, a gossipy French lord who advises the Princess, and is quick to see that the young men have fallen for the ladies.
The cast also includes Robert Lewis, Adam Hall, Liam Walsh, Sara Barlow, Lara Butler, Ashlyn Horder, Billy Sullivan, Ashlee Brown, Isabelle Moy, Meg O’Hara, Millie Chorlton, and Jenny Grigg.
Love’s Labours Lost can be seen at Maitland Repertory Theatre, in High Street, Maitland, from August 11 to 26, with Friday and Saturday shows at 8pm, and Sunday matinees at 2pm on August 13 and 20. Tickets: $17.
Bookings: 4931 2800, maitlandreptheatre苏州模特佳丽招聘.
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