Love's Labor's Lost Tickets

No girls, all books: in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, four young noblemen abstain from society in order to focus on their academics, taking an oath to only pursue scholarly ideals, not romantic ones. The study buddies quickly find that promise difficult to uphold when the princess of France shows up with three of her young, female, and conveniently unwed friends. What could go wrong?

As the young men attempt to stave off temptation and keep to their studies, romance has other plans as love sneaks in and cares are tossed away. Mania ensues as the men find creative ways to avoid contact with the women, but one by one, they each fall for one of the four women. As they all confess their love, the story builds to a bittersweet conclusion.

What to Watch For

• The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is located in upstate New York in the idyllic town of Garrison. Only an hour north of the city — an easy bus, car, or train ride away — this summertime festival is a mecca for Shakespeare lovers and has attracted audiences since its founding in 1987.
• Director Amanda Dehnert is celebrated for her work in enlivening classics. She has won an Elliot Norton Award and has staged a number of classics at theatres, from Trinity Rep to Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
• While this production is musical and zippy, the original text for Love's Labour's Lost features the longest scene (Act V, Scene II), the longest single word (honorificabilitudinitatibus), and (depending on production decisions), the longest speech (in Act IV) in all of Shakespeare's plays.