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lareinenoire) wrote2008-10-12 10:25 am
lareinenoire) wrote2008-10-12 10:25 am
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Love's Labour's Lost, dir. Gregory Doran, at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
I'd like to preface by admitting that I haven't read Love's Labours Lost in a very long time. I saw it once before, in Louisville in July, 2001, and enjoyed it far more than I would have expected, since my previous attempts to read it had met with much frustration. So, while I know Gregory Doran made a substantial number of cuts to the script (he couldn't have done otherwise and managed a running time under three hours with interval), I'm not altogether sure what cuts those were.
Anyway, without further ado, here we go.
First of all, the stage at the Courtyard was completely transformed from the last time I saw it. The stage floor was now polished, black lacquer with a flat, mirrored backdrop, and this gorgeous, stylised tree growing out of the stage. There were also these lovely iridescent 'leaves' hanging down from on high (mostly for decoration, but occasionally used as props). The lighting was muted, and the overall effect was -- unsurprisingly -- very pastoral. By the time I made it to my seat (circle, slightly stage left), two of Our Heroes were lounging about onstage. The one who later turned out to be Dumaine was strumming a guitar. Massive cheers went up when David Tennant entered; colour me unsurprised. ;) Amusingly, he lay down on the stage and covered his face with a big straw hat.
I'm not sure what this says about me, but I always found the lovers in this play to be a bit flat as characters, as though they're preliminary sketches for the later comedies, particularly Much Ado. That being said, the production did a good job of differentiating them, both visually and in terms of performance. Maria and Kate were still a bit interchangeable, but the script gives them so little to do most of the time that it really doesn't give an actor much to work with.
The men were all very good, I thought. The King of Navarre (Edward Bennett) had a lovely voice, and quite good stage presence, although I did wonder why the Princess -- who, technically speaking, ranked far higher than he did -- kept bowing to him. All the men except Berowne (David Tennant) were in very pale colours; he wore a sort of blue-green, and constantly looked a bit dishevelled, in contrast to the others. Dumaine (Sam Alexander) and Longueville (Tom Davey) also did very well with not too much script -- Dumaine's 'ode' to his lady in 4.3 was a lot of fun, and Longueville stole the Muscovite scene with his inspired choice of accent. But more on that later.
As for Tennant, he did a wonderful job -- he kept his natural accent, which is just delightful, and I have wondered for a long time why they made him use RP for Doctor Who, especially since they didn't make Eccleston do it. He brought out the bitterness in Berowne's humour more than I had expected, and was well matched with Nina Sosanya's Rosaline. Both are very much the cleverest in the room, and it was easy to see their frustration -- mixed as it was with fondness and amusement -- as they interacted with the other characters. It did feel as though there wasn't quite enough interaction between them, which might have been due to the cuts, but what interaction they had was great fun. And I have to say, Berowne has some incredibly long speeches, but Tennant succeeded in keeping them interesting and entertaining. It was really hard to predict what he was going to do next.
(On a somewhat unrelated note, DRESS ENVY. The costumes were gorgeous.)
Don Armado was very good, right down to the way he entered and exited every single scene. Some of his earlier scenes could have been cut down, I think, as they went on a bit longer than was strictly necessary. And Moth was hilarious, dressed as a smaller version of Armado and cheerfully declaiming dirty jokes. That being said, it did seem as though the play wasn't nearly as dirty as it ought to have been -- maybe they were trying to be subtle about it.
One particular highlight was, actually, Costard. He stole so many scenes with absolutely priceless facial expressions and delivery. Jaquenetta needs to be little more than eye candy as far as I can tell, but this one was, first of all, gorgeous, and second, had a really lovely singing voice -- the production took full advantage of that by having the non-aristocratic characters perform in the lobby during the interval to remind people when to start going back into the theatre.
I actually laughed at Holofernes' jokes, which says a lot for Oliver Ford Davies (who signed a copy of the cast list for me afterward, which was sweet of him). Apparently he also plays Polonius in Hamlet, which made him even funnier as far as I'm concerned. He and Nathaniel were both hilarious -- there was a great moment in 5.1, when Armado was going on and on about courtly entertainments and Nathaniel just passed out upstage. The dirty jokes were also more in evidence in the second half, although by the end of 5.1, the fact that Dull's line about not understanding anything anybody had said got a huge round of applause probably spoke for the audience as well.
Act IV, Scene III is easily my favourite scene in the entire play (and probably everybody else's as well). They used the tree to full advantage, with people hiding behind it, jumping round it, and, in Berowne's case, climbing up and sitting in what looked like an incredibly uncomfortable position. This was really where the men succeeded in distinguishing themselves from one another. The King delivered his speech half in tears, Longueville was constantly juggling pens and pieces of paper, and Dumaine brought a massive book onstage that he opened to reveal a hidden compartment and his guitar. He ended up singing his speech, with the others playing an unseen barbershop chorus. I only wish there was a real accompanying scene for the women.
As the Princess, Mariah Gale was good, but it was remarked afterward that her real speciality is quirky roles, and the Princess may be many things, but quirky isn't exactly one of them. She did have the presence for it, even if some of her line readings, particularly toward the end, were a bit odd. And Boyet was quite funny -- he also gives the impression of being almost too clever for the situations in which he finds himself.
The weird masque-y bits were still weird, but also hilarious. I have never understood the whole Muscovite thing, but the disguises and accents were enough that I forgot about the fact that it makes no sense and just enjoyed it. Longueville, as I mentioned earlier, stole the scene by speaking in a Pakistani accent and inciting all sorts of great looks from the rest of the men. And the Nine Worthies scene surprised me. They really played up the casual cruelty of the lords and ladies, particularly Berowne. Holofernes even got massive sympathetic reactions from the audience, which, considering his role, is pretty impressive.
They were very straightforward with the strangeness of the ending. The lords and ladies were literally playing keep-away with Jaquenetta's 'dishclout' and tormenting Armado, when Mercade appeared almost out of nowhere in the middle of the game, in unrelieved black, and at his first words, the stage lights went blue and sombre. I still don't really understand the ending, but they made it work.
They also didn't flinch from the oddness between Berowne and Rosaline at the very end -- they sat apart during the song, while the other lovers sat together, and the final tableau had them standing at opposite sides of the stage, looking at one another as the lights went down.
I will admit this isn't my favourite of the comedies to read, but watching it is fascinating. And it was brought home throughout this production that the lovers are not particularly nice people. They're clever -- almost too clever -- and the class distinctions really came through here. Love's Labour's Lost doesn't have the humanising moments that Much Ado or As You Like It have. Everyone is always...well...clever, and witty, and even at the end, they're still trying to get the upper hand in the relationship. Arguably the ladies win this round, but it's really hard to say.
In all, I really enjoyed the production, despite a few flaws, and found it quite thought-provoking. Not to mention it was visually gorgeous.
Anyway, without further ado, here we go.
First of all, the stage at the Courtyard was completely transformed from the last time I saw it. The stage floor was now polished, black lacquer with a flat, mirrored backdrop, and this gorgeous, stylised tree growing out of the stage. There were also these lovely iridescent 'leaves' hanging down from on high (mostly for decoration, but occasionally used as props). The lighting was muted, and the overall effect was -- unsurprisingly -- very pastoral. By the time I made it to my seat (circle, slightly stage left), two of Our Heroes were lounging about onstage. The one who later turned out to be Dumaine was strumming a guitar. Massive cheers went up when David Tennant entered; colour me unsurprised. ;) Amusingly, he lay down on the stage and covered his face with a big straw hat.
I'm not sure what this says about me, but I always found the lovers in this play to be a bit flat as characters, as though they're preliminary sketches for the later comedies, particularly Much Ado. That being said, the production did a good job of differentiating them, both visually and in terms of performance. Maria and Kate were still a bit interchangeable, but the script gives them so little to do most of the time that it really doesn't give an actor much to work with.
The men were all very good, I thought. The King of Navarre (Edward Bennett) had a lovely voice, and quite good stage presence, although I did wonder why the Princess -- who, technically speaking, ranked far higher than he did -- kept bowing to him. All the men except Berowne (David Tennant) were in very pale colours; he wore a sort of blue-green, and constantly looked a bit dishevelled, in contrast to the others. Dumaine (Sam Alexander) and Longueville (Tom Davey) also did very well with not too much script -- Dumaine's 'ode' to his lady in 4.3 was a lot of fun, and Longueville stole the Muscovite scene with his inspired choice of accent. But more on that later.
As for Tennant, he did a wonderful job -- he kept his natural accent, which is just delightful, and I have wondered for a long time why they made him use RP for Doctor Who, especially since they didn't make Eccleston do it. He brought out the bitterness in Berowne's humour more than I had expected, and was well matched with Nina Sosanya's Rosaline. Both are very much the cleverest in the room, and it was easy to see their frustration -- mixed as it was with fondness and amusement -- as they interacted with the other characters. It did feel as though there wasn't quite enough interaction between them, which might have been due to the cuts, but what interaction they had was great fun. And I have to say, Berowne has some incredibly long speeches, but Tennant succeeded in keeping them interesting and entertaining. It was really hard to predict what he was going to do next.
(On a somewhat unrelated note, DRESS ENVY. The costumes were gorgeous.)
Don Armado was very good, right down to the way he entered and exited every single scene. Some of his earlier scenes could have been cut down, I think, as they went on a bit longer than was strictly necessary. And Moth was hilarious, dressed as a smaller version of Armado and cheerfully declaiming dirty jokes. That being said, it did seem as though the play wasn't nearly as dirty as it ought to have been -- maybe they were trying to be subtle about it.
One particular highlight was, actually, Costard. He stole so many scenes with absolutely priceless facial expressions and delivery. Jaquenetta needs to be little more than eye candy as far as I can tell, but this one was, first of all, gorgeous, and second, had a really lovely singing voice -- the production took full advantage of that by having the non-aristocratic characters perform in the lobby during the interval to remind people when to start going back into the theatre.
I actually laughed at Holofernes' jokes, which says a lot for Oliver Ford Davies (who signed a copy of the cast list for me afterward, which was sweet of him). Apparently he also plays Polonius in Hamlet, which made him even funnier as far as I'm concerned. He and Nathaniel were both hilarious -- there was a great moment in 5.1, when Armado was going on and on about courtly entertainments and Nathaniel just passed out upstage. The dirty jokes were also more in evidence in the second half, although by the end of 5.1, the fact that Dull's line about not understanding anything anybody had said got a huge round of applause probably spoke for the audience as well.
Act IV, Scene III is easily my favourite scene in the entire play (and probably everybody else's as well). They used the tree to full advantage, with people hiding behind it, jumping round it, and, in Berowne's case, climbing up and sitting in what looked like an incredibly uncomfortable position. This was really where the men succeeded in distinguishing themselves from one another. The King delivered his speech half in tears, Longueville was constantly juggling pens and pieces of paper, and Dumaine brought a massive book onstage that he opened to reveal a hidden compartment and his guitar. He ended up singing his speech, with the others playing an unseen barbershop chorus. I only wish there was a real accompanying scene for the women.
As the Princess, Mariah Gale was good, but it was remarked afterward that her real speciality is quirky roles, and the Princess may be many things, but quirky isn't exactly one of them. She did have the presence for it, even if some of her line readings, particularly toward the end, were a bit odd. And Boyet was quite funny -- he also gives the impression of being almost too clever for the situations in which he finds himself.
The weird masque-y bits were still weird, but also hilarious. I have never understood the whole Muscovite thing, but the disguises and accents were enough that I forgot about the fact that it makes no sense and just enjoyed it. Longueville, as I mentioned earlier, stole the scene by speaking in a Pakistani accent and inciting all sorts of great looks from the rest of the men. And the Nine Worthies scene surprised me. They really played up the casual cruelty of the lords and ladies, particularly Berowne. Holofernes even got massive sympathetic reactions from the audience, which, considering his role, is pretty impressive.
They were very straightforward with the strangeness of the ending. The lords and ladies were literally playing keep-away with Jaquenetta's 'dishclout' and tormenting Armado, when Mercade appeared almost out of nowhere in the middle of the game, in unrelieved black, and at his first words, the stage lights went blue and sombre. I still don't really understand the ending, but they made it work.
They also didn't flinch from the oddness between Berowne and Rosaline at the very end -- they sat apart during the song, while the other lovers sat together, and the final tableau had them standing at opposite sides of the stage, looking at one another as the lights went down.
I will admit this isn't my favourite of the comedies to read, but watching it is fascinating. And it was brought home throughout this production that the lovers are not particularly nice people. They're clever -- almost too clever -- and the class distinctions really came through here. Love's Labour's Lost doesn't have the humanising moments that Much Ado or As You Like It have. Everyone is always...well...clever, and witty, and even at the end, they're still trying to get the upper hand in the relationship. Arguably the ladies win this round, but it's really hard to say.
In all, I really enjoyed the production, despite a few flaws, and found it quite thought-provoking. Not to mention it was visually gorgeous.
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But having your reviews is the next best thing. Thank you.
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Oh, you will love this! BBC Radio 3 is currently doing The Duchess of Malfi with Sophie Okonedo as the Duchess and Jonathan Slinger (Richard II and III in the recent RSC histories) as Ferdinand. So far, it is fabulous, and it's available online until the end of the week.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dw3gd
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I have wondered for a long time why they made him use RP for Doctor Who,/i>
It's actually sort of intermittent Estuary, which is if anything even more annoying. RTD said that he couldn't do it in Scots because they couldn't have 'a tour of the regions' but I think that's utterly stupid, especially as we have had a Doctor who was obviously Scots before (Seven).
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Anyway. I will be jealous of you forever for seeing this, if you don't mind. :) But thanks for the in-depth review!
I will admit this isn't my favourite of the comedies to read, but watching it is fascinating.
That's always been my reaction to LLL too, and I'm first and foremost a comedies girl. I think I agree with you about the lovers; there's that brief moment when we find out that one of the ladies has a sister who died of love, but mostly everything has this sheen of wit that only cracks at the very end--and the Princess even admits that she and her ladies never took all the love-play seriously, that it was only "as bombast and as lining to the time."
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I'm very happy to have seen it -- I was just incredibly lucky, since I knew someone with an extra ticket. I got there and they were completely sold out.
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