ajhlovestheatre

LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST

by William Shakespeare 

directed by Indiana Lown-Collins

Shakespeare’s Globe, London – in repertoire until 13 September 2026

running time: 2 hours 30 minutes including interval 

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/loves-labours-lost/

Even the most ardent of Shakespearean aficionados struggle to work up much enthusiasm for Love’s Labour’s Lost. This is the seldom performed comedy where the middle word of the title can sometimes feel like an unfortunate summary of the whole exhausting tale of foresworn romance, territorial conflicts, and deception. It’s lovely then to report that Indiana Lown-Collins’ flamenco-infused new distillation for the Globe is an unexpected delight, as heady and light of heart as it is stomping of foot and strong on bawdy, broad comedy. 

I use the word “distillation” deliberately: the original text has been so cut and messed about with that this Love’s Labour’s Lost feels more like a gorgeous cousin to the Bard’s original than a faithful rendering. Frankly, I’m not complaining, as this play can so often feel precious, dense but deeply tedious. Not this time though, where Lown-Collins and her team serve up Shakespeare with tangy Spanish atmospherics, full-on belly laughs and a bonkers joie de vivre that only the most miserable of curmudgeons could fail to respond to. 

Lown-Collins’ version is both fiery and airy. It’s set in a Spain replete with garish ceramic tiles, sparkling toreador costumes, castanets, a bullfight (mercifully, only simulated and stylised but with real theatrical flair), and where the Princess (a wonderful Norah Lopez Holden, authoritative but multi-layered) is no longer from France and has her sights set on Aragon instead of Aquitaine on behalf of her ailing father.  

The performances are excellent throughout, but it’s the women that are really powerful. Aside from Lopez Holden, who is fast turning into one of the most exciting Shakespeareans of her generation, Bea Segura excels as an enigmatic, strongly accented Rosaline with Jimena Larraguivel like a spitfire in human form as a wild, lovable Jaquenetta. If occasionally the accents obscure the language it’s a fair trade-off given the Spanish authenticity they lend.

The teacher Holofernes has been deliciously reimagined as an insufferable yet strangely irresistible female English tourist, complete with naff outfit, massive cultural insensitivity, and “I Loveth Navarre” beach bag. Katy Stephens is a swaggering, chorizo-chomping delight in the role, and she has form with this sort of thing, having played an equally off-the-wall crowd pleaser as a singing, gender-swapped Leonata in the wartime-set Much Ado in 2022.

The central quartet of scholars – Ned Costello as King of Navarre, Philip Arditti’s Berowne, Philip Labey as Longaville, and Jax Guerrero’s Dumaine – register as potent individual characters and as a charmingly quirky team. The scene where each expresses their love/lust through modern pop songs is a particular highlight. Joshua Hill is likeable and tremendously sexy as cheeky stablehand Costard, whose affection for fellow worker Jaquenetta unleashes all sorts of mayhem.  There’s terrific work, very funny but unexpectedly nuanced, from Daniel Crossley, doubling as an uptight constable and a witty, flamboyant diplomat.

The ravishing design work of Katie Lias and flamenco choreography by Carmen Igarza, as well as a band of musicians as characterful as they’re melodic, add immeasurably to the appeal of a production that turns a play that often seems like hard work into an entrancingly good time. The back of the programme has the quote “if you deny to dance, let’s hold more chat” from Act V, scene two…..but this glorious show definitely favours the dance, and I, for one, am not complaining.