by Guest Reviewer T.E. Klunzinger
If you’re a word nerd, you might want to see this play to hear, in context, the longest word to appear in a Shakespeare play: honorificabilitudinitatibus (look it up).
If not, you’ll still want to see “Love’s Labour’s Lost” now a free presentation by Lansing Community College in their Outdoor Amphitheater through Sunday, because it’s a delightfully frothy romp about human foibles and even a political satire, although the humor is over 400 years old.
Director Mary Job has kept everything moving at a lively pace; happily, virtually all the actors are audible as well, despite the sirens and train horns which beset downtown Lansing.
Chief among the actors are Heath Sartorius as Berowne and Chris Howe as Ferdinand – both are fully invested in their roles and it’s truly a joy when they have an extended scene together.
Oh, and the plot: Ferdinand and his University mates vow to shun the company of women for three years, so they can become better scholars; but then the Princess of France and her ladies come to call and, well, love happens.
Ms. Job has set the play in 1914 which lends itself to some ragtime music in the interludes; some of the actors get to sing popular songs of the day, and then there’s the Cossack Dance (don’t ask).
Kamara Miller Drane makes an authoritative Princess of France, and her three ladies, besides giving us distinct personalities, look absolutely fabulous in Chelle Peterson’s elegant outfits.
The redoubtable Steve Ledyard never fails to amuse as the pompous knight Armado with a sort-of-southern-Europe accent, and T.J. Kelly – a welcome new addition to the Lansing-area stage – provides, uh, broad comic relief as Costard, a swain.
As always, parking is free on Capitol Avenue, but you should remember to bring a camp chair or similar as the bare grass and stone can be uncomfortable. Again, you really should take advantage of this opportunity to “brush up your Shakespeare!”
https://www.lcc.edu/services/community-campus-resources/performing-arts/events.html