Don't lose out on 'Love's Labour's Lost'

By Christopher DaCosta

Set in an idyllic age of innocence, William Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost," transcends boundaries of time by remaining applicable to students today.

The Bard's pleasurable wit, romantic genre and devious intimations will resonate in the Mayer Theater tomorrow night as the fall mainstage, directed by Aldo Billingslea, opens.

A versatile production, "Lost" will touch theater-goers as they watch young people fall in love and grapple with their academic obligations, while the trademark Shakespearean banter will leave them in peals of laughter.

"It's fun and dirty," Billingslea said. "Sometimes you will be amazed at how explicit some of the stuff is; it will definitely appeal to a college audience."

The play centers on the King of Navarre and his lords, who take a vow of scholarship, which also entails fasting and a strict avoidance of women.

"The play is about young men who will go down in history for focusing on academics and staying away from women," Billingslea said. "Shakespeare brings in the women, and their vows go up into the air."

The Princess of France and her ladies-in-waiting visit the King and his lords. Confusion and comedy ensue as the audience is treated to suppressions of love in the face of scholarly duties.

"Lost" goes on to explore the power of human attraction and its battle with the venerable oath of scholarship.

"It is an attractive play because it really is about people our age and what happens when they fall in love for the first time, and how they react to that," said junior Jeff Moran, who portrays Berowne, one of the king's lords.

Billingslea explained the ties this play has to the university. "We're on a Jesuit campus and Ignatius made similar vows 500 years ago," he said. "And we talk about how difficult it really is, particularly when you're young, to make that kind of a vow and stay with it."

Billingslea said that many students here make their own vows of scholarship to their parents, and oftentimes those vows are difficult to keep come Friday night.

This message is preserved and applicable even though the play is set 90 years ago. Billingslea and Barbara Murray, chair of the theater and dance department, collaborated on setting an exact period for Love's Labor's due to its context dictating that the events in the play were on the cusp of a war.

"When I was reading the script, it seemed to me that there were a couple characters that had a suffragette sort of approach, despite it being written in the 1500s," Murray said. "That reminded me of the time right before World War I, 1909, which is really the last hurrah for the whole aristocracy and the romanticism of elitist groups."

Junior Jenny Jacobs' character, the Princess of France, is one who is emerging into the contemporary woman image.

"The Princess of France is definitely on the verge of transition; she is stuck on this line right between the 1900s, before women had rights and moving toward women having rights," Jacobs said.

Billingslea likened the play's context to the general feeling of comfort before the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I wanted an era that did not just involve this kingdom but involved the entire world - so that maybe all of our worlds, all of our lives could change and maybe come to an end," he said. "It's a feeling of almost Armageddon."

"And I think that's just prior to World War I," he continued. "I think there is a real innocence and naiveté about the world and society."

Murray, also the costume designer for the play, felt that the costumes should retain the daintiness of the period while adding a touch of scholarly influence.

"There is a lot of beauty and innocence in [the women's costumes], very pastel, white, lace-on-lace kind of designs," Murray said.

"The guys are going to be in scholar's robes, representing their isolated academia."

There is also a progression in the costumes as the play gets more serious.

"We start out in light colors - very summery, very romantic - at the end of the show, there are darker overtones," said Murray.

Theater professor Fred Tollini, S.J., is also involved in this mainstage. Tollini is cast in a supporting role as Don Armado, which Billingslea calls a "mêlées glorious braggart" type of character.

"He is a Don Quixote type of dreamer who falls in love with a country girl, and he has taken a vow not to have anything to do with women," said Tollini.

Senior Ryan Auffenberg describes his character Costard as "the quick witted, gadfly type." Costard is a clown who provides some of the comic relief in the play.

Both Jacobs and Auffenberg describe the play as a witty and entertaining experience. "It's really funny, some of the comedy is great, but there are also some really touching moments," Jacobs said.