Tuesday 21 February 2012

love's labour's lost

I think I mentioned before about our book-club not being at all 'high brow' and oh boy was that all the more evident when we visited the theatre tonight!

Ten of us from the book-club decided that as none of us had read any Shakespeare since our school days (I can't remember reading any) then would it be a good idea to have a night out and go and see Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost at our local theatre. He is obviously a very popular chap because the theatre was packed!

We settled into our seats and the play started. Within the first five minutes I thought 'oh boy - I'm not going to have a clue what's going on' then I thought 'oh boy - what have I done, why did I agree to come?' then I thought 'oh boy - this is going to be a long, long night'.

But.. I settled down and surprised myself by understanding (vaguely) what was going on. I understood that the King of Navarre and his three lords swore an oath to study for three years and avoid contact with women. The Princess of France and three of her ladies visited the King and their good intentions were tested when the three lords fell in love with the three ladies, as did the King with the Princess. A messenger arrived to tell the Princess that her father had died and she has to return to France. The ladies then tell their suitors to seek them again in a year, and the play ends with the Princess and her ladies leaving.

That all sounds quite straightforward and easy to follow but then there are a few odd things thrown in and it got quite puzzling! There was an extravagantly spoken (camp) Spaniard, his page boy, a country bumpkin, a pregnant dairymaid, a clergyman and a schoolmaster. The second half was quite bizarre.

The cast were great. The acting, singing, dancing and instrument playing was all very impressive. I think it was just a bit 'over our heads'. The language and the story was quite tricky to follow and it was quite hard work.

We were asked if we would like to join the Q&A session after the play but I'm afraid we all felt that we were out of our depth. What heathens we are!

We've experienced a Shakespeare play and yes, it was quite an experience.


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