LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST Ends Folger's 2019/20 Season

Mind vs. Matter. Game on. Folger Theatre concludes its 2018/19 season of characters that "shake the world" with Love's Labor's Lost, Shakespeare's quick-witted comedy filled with oaths, trickery, and confessions of love. Vivienne Benesch, the 2017 winner of the annual Zelda Fichandler Award, makes her Folger directorial debut.

The production features Amelia Pedlow (TV's The Good Wife; Primary Stages' Pride and Prejudice) as the Princess of France; Kelsey Rainwater (STC's Macbeth), as her witty companion Rosaline; Joshua David Robinson (JQA at Arena Stage), as Ferdinand, the King of Navarre; and Helen Hayes Award-winner Zachary Fine (Folger Theatre's The Two Gentlemen of Verona with Fiasco Theater) as the perpetual bachelor Berowne.

Love's Labor's Lost is on stage from April 30 through June 9, 2019. Tickets are available online at www.folger.edu/theatre or by calling the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077.

To further their scholarly pursuits, a young king and his three confidants renounce the company of women to devote themselves to study. This ambitious pact, however, is immediately jeopardized when the Princess of France and her three companions arrive. Will the men keep to their monastic vows or surrender to the charms of the opposite sex? This playful, romantic comedy of vows made-and broken-revolves around hidden identities, secret surrogates, and, of course, misdelivered letters.

"As spring turns to summer, it's the perfect time to revel in watching a clever group of men make promises they can't keep and a cleverer group of women teach them why not," says Vivienne Benesch, who is Producing Artistic Director of Playmakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, NC. "Love's Labor's Lost is a delightfully profound play about the value and substance of our words-words as oaths, words as social signifiers, words as poetry, words as walls, and words as pathways to our true hearts."

The scenic design of Love's Labor's Lost by Lee Savage is inspired by the spectacular Paster Reading Room, and the period setting suggests the Folger Shakespeare Library's opening in 1932. The world of the production will blend beautifully with the Folger's latest exhibition on the fascinating history of the Library's founding.

The Love's Labor's Lost cast also features Tonya Beckman as Boyet and Jacquenetta; Louis Butelli as the schoolmaster, Holofernes; Matt Dallal as Longaville; Eric Hissom as Don Armado;

Yesenia Iglesias as Maria; Edmund Lewis as the clownish Costard; and Chani Wereley as the clever Katherine. Josh Adams (Dull/Forester/Marcade), Megan Graves (Mote), Susan Rome (Nathaniel), and Jack Schmitt (Dumaine) round out the cast.

The creative team includes scenic design by Helen Hayes Award-winner Lee Savage, costume design by Tracy Christensen (Broadway's Sunset Boulevard), and lighting design by three-time Helen Hayes Award-winner Colin K. Bills. Lindsay Jones (Folger's King John and The Tempest) will design the sound and compose original music.

Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre's Artistic Producer, says. "What a delight to round out our 'Shake the World' season with one of Shakespeare's finest feasts for the ears-ripe with witty repartee and romance. Director Vivienne Benesch will bring her intelligence and elegance to all the brilliant badinage."

Love's Labor's Lost is presented in concert with the Folger Shakespeare Library's exhibition A Monument to Shakespeare: The Architecture of the Folger Shakespeare Library, a revealing look at the architecture of the Folger Shakespeare Library, from its origins in 1932-a gift to the American people from Henry and Emily Folger-to its exciting future. Home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare-related books, manuscripts, art, and artifacts, the Folger was designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret, in collaboration with the Folgers, and earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. This exhibition, curated by Folger Shakespeare Library Director Michael Witmore and Curator of Manuscripts Heather Wolfe, celebrates the story of an American monument to Shakespeare and its unique architectural features. On display in the Folger's Great Hall April 13, 2018 through January 5, 2020. Visit www.folger.edu/exhibitions for details; free.

Love's Labor's Lost is on stage at Folger Theatre from April 30 through June 9, 2019. Tickets are $42-$85. Discounted preview performances (starting at $27) and special rates for patrons under 30, students, seniors, members and family of the military, educators, and groups may be purchased through the Folger Theatre Box Office at (202) 544-7077 or online at www.folger.edu/theatre.

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