LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST to Bring Love and Lust to Theater at Monmouth

Shakespeare's Battle of the Sexes comedy, LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, opens at Theater at Monmouth Friday, July 8th at 7:30 p.m.

King Ferdinand and his fellow scholars swear an oath devoting themselves to reading, writing, and abstaining from food, alcohol, and women for three years. How inconvenient, then, that the beautiful Princess of France and her ladies-in-waiting show up to make keeping the oath more difficult than they thought.

TAM's production is set in the 1960's at Cambridge University fueling the love, power, and feminism that shake up the stage in this playful courtship comedy. In typical Shakespearean fashion, letters of love go misdirected, outrageous disguises are donned, and soulful soliloquies overheard,-until a twist of fate forces the men to keep their vows.

Director Dawn McAndrews appreciates the Shakespeare's use of wordplay as foreplay in LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST. "Shakespeare quadruples down on the boy-meets-girl plot and the payoff is a comedy of sexual politics that may be transported nearly four hundred years into the future and still illuminate the eternal debate between men and women." She continued, "There's a play within the play and a gaggle of fools to keep the humor bouncing. But more than anything else, LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST is a play about the velocity, veracity, and verbosity of language."

LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST features Rob Glauz as King Ferdinand; Jake Loewenthal as Longaville; Tim Kopacz as Dumaine; Chris White as Berowne; Christopher Holt as Dull; Lucas Calzada as Costard; Bill Van Horn as Don Armado; Michael Pullen as Mote; Isabella Etro as Jaquenetta/Maria; James Hoban as Boyet; Erica Murphy as Princess; Kelsey Burke as Katharine; Blythe Coons as Rosaline; Joe Mariani as First Lord/Mercade; Mark Cartier as Sir Nathaniel; and Janis Stevens as Holofernes. Set design by Dan Bilodeau, costume design by Elizabeth Rocha, lighting design by Matthew Adelson, sound design by Rew Tippin, and fight direction by Leighton Samuels.

Performance Calendar: PREVIEW 7/7 at 7:30 p.m.; OPENING 7/8 at 7:30 p.m. with a pre-show classics in context discussion; additional performance dates 7/16, 7/20, 8/12, 8/17, 8/20 at 7:30 p.m.; 7/31, 8/4 at 1:00 p.m.; 7/24 at 7:00 p.m. with post-show talk-back. Educators receive 20% off tickets for opening night with a photo ID at the Box Office.

Ticket prices range from $20-$32. For patrons under 30, twenty $10 Rush Tickets are available at each performance in the season. Tickets will be released to the first 20 people on the list ten minutes before curtain. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more. For calendar and reservations, please contact the TAM Box Office at 207.933.9999 or visit www.theateratmonmouth.org.

Theater at Monmouth, founded in 1970, was named the Shakespearean Theater of Maine by the State Legislature in 1975. The theatre's mission is to present innovative approaches to Shakespeare and other classic plays through professional productions that enrich the lives of people throughout Maine. Since its founding, TAM has produced expertly crafted, engaging productions in its three-month Summer Repertory Season entertaining audiences from 36 states and through Education Tours annually reaching more than 15,000 students statewide.

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