RECOMMENDED
Set against raucous singing cicadas and the playful shouts of children, Midsommer Flight’s troupe of players gave an undaunted and jubilant performance of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” on July 19, outdoors at Kelvyn Park in the Hermosa neighborhood. A comedy, the story begins as the King of Navarre and his three male companions vow a three-year abstention from women for the sake of intense scholarship, only for their edict to crumble at the appearance of the princess of France and her three lovely lady attendants. The tone is light and zany. The players engage in one ridiculous scheme after another with puckish exuberance. Director Beth Wolf places actors among the surroundings, turning tree trunks into palace columns, and jewel-toned costumes by Rachel M. Sypniewski complement the verdure of the surrounding foliage.
“Love’s Labour’s Lost” is not produced as much as Shakespeare’s more popular works, and it’s easy to see why. The plot is simple. King Ferdinand (Joshua Pennington) drops his decree of chastity with barely a struggle, and potential explorations into ethics are avoided in favor of comedic scenarios, as when the King and his companions masquerade as singing, dancing pirates to slip through town unnoticed and bring to their ladies love notes and trinkets. Preposterous plot devices perforate the story, like when a country bumpkin, Costard (Travis Shanahan), mixes up love letters during a botched delivery, or when the Princess (Vanessa Copeland) decides that she and her entourage will in turn wear flimsy disguises to test their suitors’ integrity. The addition of a hyper-animated cast makes this “Love’s Labour’s Lost” feel like a silly romantic comedy.
Turns out, a romantic comedy is the right choice. By 6pm, the sun had died down and a light breeze cut the humidity. Monarch butterflies tumbled through the air and rested on laps. Midsommer’s ebullient take on Shakespeare matched the surroundings perfectly. Musical interludes by a troupe of bards on acoustic instruments harmonize with the drone of the cicadas. When scholar Dumaine (Travis Ascione), frustrated by his coarse attempt at poetry, gives a mighty cry to the heavens, look up, there they are. The masquerade scene is ludicrous, but the actors’ confidence in their roles is enough to pull off the tongue-in-cheek absurdity. Wolf’s direction takes full advantage of the wide, grassy “stage,” as characters are lavishly spread out and are prone to burst in from multiple directions.
This is the Shakespeare I want to see on a cool summer evening, sitting in a folding chair and sipping a LaCroix beside a butterfly companion. Shakespeare’s focus on absurdly comic scenes may lack the depth of his more popular works but engages one’s attention, and the under two-hour performance (no intermission) moves along with the breeze. If you’re looking for tragedy, turn on the news; if it’s a fun night in the park that you’re after, you’ll find it in Midsommer Flight’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost.”
“Love’s Labour’s Lost” is presented by Midsommer Flight July 25-27 at Winnemac Park, 5100 North Leavitt, and August 1-3 at Touhy Park, 7348 North Paulina. Free reservations at midsommerflight.com.
