Colourful: Love’s Labour’s Lost [Tristram Kenton]

SHAKESPEARE’S early comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost is tricky to stage with its elaborate wordplay, classical references and downbeat ending.

Indiana Lown-Collins, in an impressive Globe directorial debut, adds flair and colour by introducing flamenco to the mix.

The King of Navarre (Ned Costello) and his courtiers Berowne (Philip Arditti), Longaville (Philip Labey) and Dumaine (Jax Guerrero) sign an oath to study for three years, abstaining from women, good food and sleep.

Then the Princess of Spain (Norah Lopez Holden, outstanding) arrives with her entourage: Rosaline (Bea Segura), Maria (Katy Stephens) and Katherine (Suzanne Ahmet), wreaking havoc with the men’s hearts.

What follows is a flirtatious battle of wits. Instead of the hunt scene, the princess conducts a bullfight – a clever way to accentuate the thrill of the chase.

Rather than writing sonnets, the lords choose music to express their desire. They woo the ladies dressed as Russians; one step ahead, the women disguise themselves as each other in gentle mockery.

Katie Lias’s costumes are brilliant, some neatly mirroring the blue and gold of her set. Flamenco dancers Pablo Egea and Anita La Maltesa, and singer Carlos Lobo Cordón, join a cast well-drilled by choreographer Carman Igarza.

There are playful cameos too, from Andro Crespo as Don Adriano de Armado and Stephens doubling as Holofernes, though at times these feel like unnecessary filler.

It’s all good fun, but I suspect less time went into working on projection.

The actors’ voices don’t always carry, some lines are lost or garbled, and the music is occasionally muted – I longed for it to be turned up. Caveats aside, this joyously silly production is perfect for a warm summer’s evening.

Until September 13
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