This flamenco-fuelled production proves the power of Shakespeare’s words by transcending themRating
Excellent
In the beginning there might well have been Shakespeare’s words, but underneath the words, before the words, was the beating of a human heart. Or so we are told when we study the Bard’s beloved iambic pentameter (da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM). A real sense of this fabled rhythm beats throughout Indiana Lown-Collins’ flamenco-fuelled Love’s Labour’s Lost, making for a vibrant and compelling production.
The centrality of music and dancing is established as soon as the scene opens, with dancing rather than with the King of Navarre’s original (pedantic) speech to convince his friends to give up love. Carmen Igarza’s choreography, executed by the entire cast to the irresistible flamenco music composed by Michael McMahon and Adrián Solà, gives us a taste of ‘the huge army of the world’s desires’ against which the King and his companions are to wage war. The choice of putting flamenco centerstage, exchanging the original French setting of the story for a Spanish one, works surprisingly well both aesthetically and thematically.
Katie Lias’s colourful set and Jaquie Davies’ fabulous costumes transport the audience from London’s Southbank to the shores of a Mediterranean town (aided, perhaps, by the current heatwave). Flamenco itself translates into music and dancing, the formidable enemy which Shakespeare’s characters grapple with throughout the play: love, as life-affirming and melancholy as the notes of the musicians’ guitars, percussion and laúd and the voice of cantaor Carlos Lobo Cordón. Norah Lopez Holden stands out in her performance as the Princess of Spain, but the whole cast is exceptional, particularly in moments of physical comedy like the hysterical succession of love confessions (by Philip Arditti, Ned Costello, Jax Guerrero and Philip Labey) putting Shakespeare’s words to well-known tunes from Bad Bunny to ‘Despacito’.
An inspired decision was to turn Holofernes from Latin to English teacher, armed of ‘I loveth Navarre’ beach bag and hilariously interpreted by Katy Stephens. The careful and clever translation of Latin to Spanish reflects the relative popularity of the former in Elizabethan England. Less effective is the integration of the numerous classical references, which, though largely cut, become superfluous in a play-world where learning is no longer synonymous with classical learning (as it would have been for Shakespeare, as well as for the King of Navarre and his nerdy companions). The parade of the Nine Worthies in the slower second half of the production feels out of place and hard to follow, in spite of an ingenious attempt at translating it for an English context by turning Holofernes’ Judas disguise into Elizabeth I.
Overall, however, Shakespeare’s constant play on different languages is excellently handled. An evident care for the text beats at the heart of the production. It allows actors to move naturally between Spanish and English, different accents, and modes of expression that illustrate the power of Shakespeare’s words by transcending them.
Showcasing to its best the Globe’s unique immersive power, whether you’re sitting or standing in the yard, Lown-Collins’s Love’s Labour’s Lost will make you want to dance. To paraphrase one character’s defeat at the hands of Cupid — ‘by heaven, I do love, and it hath taught me to flamenco.’
Directed by Indiana Lown-Collins
Design by Katie Lias
Composd by: Michael McMahon and Adrián Solá
Movement Director and Choreography by Carmen Igarza
Love’s Labour’s Lost plays at Shakespeare’s Globe until Sunday 13 September
