Fort Worth — Love’s Labor’s Lost, currently receiving an enjoyable revival by Stolen Shakespeare Guild in the Sanders Theatre at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, is one of William Shakespeare’s more quizzical contributions to the Western canon.
On the one hand, it’s an intellectual play, featuring creatively humorous wordplay and commentary on popular poetic forms of the day. On the other, it’s a light, romping romantic comedy. And ultimately, it’s a beloved piece of theater and a popular selection for Shakespeare groups.
However, there is some question as to its translatability to modern audiences. After all, the Bard’s likely intent with the piece was a cerebral exercise in language. Even in his own time, the number of people who would have understood, or cared to understand, the subtly laced grammatical humor was somewhat smaller than his typical audience.
The romantic comedy angle, though, is a story that appeals to all people and is what has kept this entry in the popular rotation throughout history.
In fantastical Shakespearean fashion, the story begins with King Ferdinand of Navarre (Thomas Fletcher) and his three attending lords, Berowne (Carter Frost), Longaville (Christopher Reaves) and Dumaine (Alex Krus) devoting themselves to three years of study, and in support of that pledge, swearing off the company of women.
Subversively astute, Berowne reminds the king that the Princess of France (Lauren Morgan) and her attending ladies Rosaline (Ashlie Kirkpatrick), Maria (Rene Sarradet Fuller) and Katherine (Chelsea Duncan) will arrive in the kingdom shortly and cleverly lobbies the king to rethink the pledge. The King is unmoved by Berwone’s request and insists that the women stay in the fields outside the court.
In the meantime, several supporting comedic characters are introduced. Chief among these is Don Adriano de Armado (Tyler Shults), a flamboyant Spaniard in the vein of Don Quixote, and his exuberant Sancho Panza-like page, Moth (Charissa Lee). Forming a formidable comedy duo, Armado and Moth venture across the countryside as the don pursues his love, Jaquenetta (Briannon Sott), a dairymaid.
The story is quite funny, weaving a deft mix of physical and literary comedy, including the men dressing as Russians, Shakespeare’s classic play-within-a-play trope, and various other scuffles, spelled by moments of pun-laden discussions and clever wordplay.
In fact, the story works so well that people don’t seem to mind that it doesn’t have a classic happy ending, and is, in fact, open ended, which is how the story gets its title and why many think the apocryphal Love’s Labor’s Won is its lost sequel.
The performances lend the play much of its whimsical energy. Shults and Lee have a natural chemistry in their absurd back and forth conversations. Particularly, Shults’ over-the-top portrayal of the lustful Spanish don is side-achingly funny.
The lords and ladies all exhibit well-developed characters. Frost manages the clever language with which Berowne is bestowed with cunning guile, often proving to be the best part of any scene he is in. Which is not to downplay the other performances from the royals. All were handled well.
Occupying the Shakespearean fool role of Costard is Jason Morgan, whose take on the part is more buffoon than fool (there is a difference), and is generally underwhelming.
Beyond the acting, the stage direction by director/actors Jason and Lauren Morgan is impressive. Often managing a glut of characters on stage all engaged in separate, yet often intertwining, actions, the Morgan’s bring a clear vision of the madcap action to this production, and it’s all the better for it.
What distinguishes this production, though, from others is that a rather impressive understanding of the language joins the comedy inherent in the storyline. The problem with performing Shakespeare is that he wrote in such an odd language and that often renders modern theater practitioners to never fully understand what the Bard was saying.
Stolen Shakespeare takes a play known for being layered with much more playful language, couched in a classic romantic comedy and effectively communicates that aspect to the audience. They don’t shy away and only emphasize the easy-to-digest part of the play. They have fun with the smart language.
For Love’s Labor’s Lost, the combination of endearing and well-developed characters with excellent direction provides a fun time for all. 
