Ohio Shakespeare Festival's Production of 'Love's Labor's Lost' is an LOL Treat

It’s July and we’ve replaced the snow tornados of last winter with the hottest week in recorded history. Faced with all manner of challenges, meteorological and otherwise, it’s a good idea to seek succor in the welcoming folds of a Shakespeare comedy.

And Love’s Labor’s Lost now at the Ohio Shakespeare Festival is an LOL treat, even at the run-time of more than three hours, including the half-hour “green show” that begins the evening. Under the spirited direction of Tess Burgler, the talented OSF company squeezes old Will’s comedy like a ripe orange, and out squirts a gaggle of randy dudes (both sexes now), disguises, mistaken identities, and a couple dazzling performances.

On one hand, you have Ferdinand, the King of Navarre (Ross Carmichael) and his three-man posse of lords who have taken an oath to forgo the pleasures of the flesh for attaining a higher intellectual state of being. As you might expect that idea lasts for a hot minute until Lord Berowne convinces them that this is a bad time to be good, since the Princess of France and the ladies in her entourage will be arriving soon. Hubba-hubba.

In the key role of Berowne, Ryan Zarecki dances across Will’s sometimes dense verbiage like a professional skim boarder on a Malibu beach, playing off audience reactions as he leads his fellow converts into pursuing passion rather than purpose. Once the gals arrive, the Princess (an elegant and sly Amaya Kiyomi) has her pack disguise themselves as each other to throw the boys off their trail, and the fellows match that my dressing up as Muscovites because why the hell not?

While the play spins out that fractured plotline, another is introduced with the arrival of Don Adriano de Armado, an over-the-top fantastical Spaniard who, in Geoff Knox’s deft hands, is a hilarious mixture of Speedy Gonzales, Salvador Dali and José Jimenez. Don Adriano accuses the local peasant Costard (Ernie Gonzalez, Jr., a local favorite who is returning after a lengthy absence from the OSF stage) of a suspected dalliance with milkmaid Jaquenetta.

Other standout performances include Jim Fippin as the dense constable Anthony Dull, Hannah Storch as Don Adriano’s quick-witted page Moth, and Shannon Sharkey as the French lord Boyet, who keeps the ladies on their toes. And not to be missed is Brian Pedaci as the pedant Holofrenes, a man who has never misses an opportunity to expound on the vagaries of Latin and other languages.

As you can tell, the hormones are stampeding in this silly bit of Shakespearean nonsense, and the director Burgler expertly fluffs it all up to keep the audience involved and amused. Unlike other comedies, this one ends on a dour note and while the boys and girls are effectively paired off, the script doesn’t send them off in a flurry of happiness. But an extended musical curtain call reprises the energy again.

If you are new to the Ohio Shakespeare Festival, note that they perform outdoors rain or shine on the lush grounds of the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens in Akron. It’s a lovely venue for any kind of show, but particularly appropriate for the gorgeous words that Shakespeare drops on us. Seating is provided but consider bringing a picnic (the grounds open at 6 PM) and then take your seats by 7:30 when the “green show” of music, dancing and swordfights serves as a theatrical amuse bouche prior to the main course.

Love’s Labor’s Lost
Through July 16 produced by the Ohio Shakespeare Festival at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, 714 N. Portage Path, Akron, ohioshakespearefestival.com.

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