Love's Labour's Lost is broadcast 11 February 2015
Live From Stratford-upon-Avon Live Broadcast 11 February 2015
Love's Labour's Lost ends with lovers parting, a hollow resolution which leaves the plot suspended, the future uncertain. Christopher Luscombe chooses to use Much Ado About Nothing as a sequel to the events of Love's Labour's Lost, choosing to believe Much Ado might be the missing Love's Labour's Won. Though this may lead to howls of scholarly protest, the two plays are similar in tone and setting and the character of Berowne is a true mirror of Benedick. To this end Love's Labour's Lost is set in the long Edwardian summer and ends with the men leaving for France. As Larkin has it:
Never such innocence,
Never before or since,
As changed itself to past
Without a word – the men
Leaving the gardens tidy,
The thousands of marriages,
Lasting a little while longer:
Never such innocence again.
Much Ado begins with soldiers returning from war, Beatrice and Benedick renew an old battle of wits that hints at a relationship begun long before his departure. Whether you endorse the pairing of the two plays and the use of the title Love's Labour's Won or not, it is sure to provide an interesting double bill and an opportunity to compare and contrast the two plays performed by the same cast.
While many a good production has no need of a beautiful set, yet many good productions are elegantly designed and this is no exception. Charlecote Park is the inspiration for the set, a Tudor mansion restored in the 19th century and the mythical setting of Shakespeare's arrest for poaching. Two towers flank the auditorium, with an elaborate library set occupying the stage, this is part of a complex mechanical apparatus and slides back between the towers to reveal a lawn suitable for the outdoor scenes. Even on the first preview night, this mutable setting performed sweeping changes of scene with smooth efficiency carrying both actors and whole rooms away and lowering fresh backdrops into place. So the library slides away to reveal a lawn and the lawn disappears as Don Armado's rooms slide into view.
The play opens with the King of Navarre and three friends vowing to seek a life of study and quiet contemplation, to cloister themselves away for three years. Navarre has invented a strict regime that forbids the presence of women at his court and forces his friends to sign a severe code of conduct. Only Berowne objects, but he is soon coerced into agreement. However, fate is ready to dash his plans, his rule is undermined by forces within his court and powerful influences without. For as soon as his doors are secure the Princess of France and her Ladies in Waiting arrive and the scholars hearts are lost in minutes. Meanwhile, dissent is growing within the walls of the court, as his colourful Spanish follower Don Armado and the gardener clown Costard are enraptured by a dairymaid Jaquenetta.
They disguise themselves as visiting Russians, but the ladies are forewarned and trick their suitors by donning masks and swapping the gifts Navarre and his friends have given them. The King has recruited the local curate, his friend the schoolmaster, the constable and Costard to entertain his guests with the Nine Worthies, an elaborate musical pageant. Just as the various lovers seem contented, even Don Armado has agreed to marry a pregnant Jaquenneta, a messenger arrives with news of the death of the French King. The lovers part, the men agree to prove their love by a year-long separation.
Christopher Luscombe sets the play in the long Edwardian summer familiar from recent film and television productions. This lends a poignancy to the lovers final parting as the men march away in military uniform. It also contributes to the aesthetic of this beautifully designed setting, as the elegant costumes add to the visually stunning backdrop. It also ties in with the commemorations of the First World War and allows Love's Labour's Won to begin with the soldiers return.
The whole is wonderfully vivid and joyous, full of invention, with delightful performances from the comic characters and powerful use of music and song. Obviously Berowne is the choice role in Love's Labour's Lost and Edward Bennett is suitably mellifluous and world weary, which bodes well for his depiction of Benedick. The gentlemen and their loves were excellent, remarkable for the first night of such an ambitious staging, Berowne's discovery of his friends frailty and their discovery of his, which is usually achieved by hiding in a tree, is engineered in a far more dramatic and hilarious fashion in this extravagant production. The interplay between John Hodginson's Don Armado and Peter McGovern's Moth transcends the usual comic foreigner jokes and the songs suggest the sophistication of Cole Porter. Nick Haverson's Costard has much of the music hall comedian and his appearance as Pompey the Great, complete with ship, produced spontaneous applause. Of special note are the scenes between David Horovitch, Thomas Wheatley and Chris McCalphy as Holofernes the schoolmaster, Sir Nathaniel the curate and Dull the constable, which include a bowling match and are beautifully played with immaculate timing.
The audience laughed riotously and applauded throughout the evening, which was a little shorter than usual, though probably none the worse for that. This is a perfect production for the RSC, intelligent and spectacular, subtle and hilarious, satisfying an established audience and attracting a new one.
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