I was recently given the opportunity to witness a play put on by The Acting Company at Thomas A. Edison High School. This one time only performance of Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare was extremely comical, yet confusing. The characters had limited props, a multitude of costumes, and no access to microphones. Despite the fact that the characters were limited in certain areas, they used the stage wisely and, made heavy interactions with the crowd. The Acting Company put on a well-executed play and I would recommend it to others.
Character Berowne (Daniel Liu), individuality brought the play alive and kept the laughter from the crowd flowing. His histrionic actions and amalgam of jokes drew the audience’s attention in more than any other actor. After the play, Daniel Liu told the audience that he loved being in theatre because “On stage you can do things really not done in life and it brings out my spontaneous side.”
The performance started out with King Ferdinand of Navarre (Sky Smith) and his lords at court – Berowne (Daniel Liu), Dumaine (Zach Fike Hodges), and Longaville (Luis Quintero) swearing to an oath that says they must live and study together for three years without the company of women, eating only one meal per day and sleeping for only three hours in the night. The Princess of France (Jade Radford) later arrives with her ladies Rosaline (Marielle Young), Maria (Serena Ebony Miller) and Katherine (Maryn Shaw). After the King and his lords receive them, Lord Boyet (Zach Fike Hodges) notices that Navarre and his court seem to be infected with love. Berowne later confesses to his feelings and convinces the lords that they must give up their oaths in true pursuit of themselves and love.
The play’s assistant director, Kholoud Sawaf, clearly knows a thing or two about theater because each actor had a clear understanding of their role in this performance. The actors also executed the choreography by Tracy Bersley perfectly and showed no signs of torpor throughout their performance. The choreography was simple enough for all actors to complete, but also entertaining for the audience to watch.
For this to be the first time The Acting Company performed this play I would say that it was an amazing performance. All of the roles were played to their full potential and executed perfectly. This performance was truly one for the books and I would love to see it again.
Written by
William Shakespeare
Directed by
Ian Belknap
A Co-Production with The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival that will travel through the Hudson Valley and tour New York City schools.
Photo Credit: The Acting Company
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