Love's Labour's Lost

Tue.-Thu., Oct. 27-29, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 30, 8 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 31, 2 and 8 p.m.; $20-$55, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, pennpresents.org.

by David Anthony Fox

John Haynes (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

theater

"Your wit's too hot, it speeds too fast, 'twill tire," says Berowne, an exasperated nobleman engaged in wordplay with pretty Rosaline in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. But really, can there ever be too much wit? This early play shows the Bard at his most virtuosic, at least when it comes to verbal games and horseplay. But there's a hint of darkness in it, too. It's tempting to see this brilliant study of young love as a preparation for Shakespeare's beloved later comedies like Much Ado About Nothing. But that would be to underestimate Love's Labour's Lost itself, a genuinely great play even among Shakespeare's more famous work, and one we get too few chances to see. That's why this touring production — by the illustrious Globe Theatre, no less — is so welcome. And although Penn's Zellerbach Theatre can't quite match the Globe's open-air space, a college campus is ideally suited to this extravagant tale of youth and temptation.