STAGE REVIEWS : ‘LOVE’S LABOUR’

After successfully exploring “Henry IV, Part 1,” the Grove Shakespeare Festival has turned to lighter fare with equal grace. Its production of “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” the farce that presents love as the most potent (and vexing) potion, is bawdy and playful, a nice measure of Shakespeare’s lampooning wit.

In this, the second offering of the festival (co-sponsored by the Grove Theater Company of Garden Grove and Rancho Santiago College), director Phillip Beck gives a reasonably faithful treatment to the ribald tale of four noblemen succumbing to romance against their better judgment. Beck’s touches are generally effective, save one. He has dressed the Spanish King, Ferdinand of Navarre, his three lords and the French princess and her three ladies in turn-of-the-century garb while leaving the commoners in medieval costumes. Is Beck trying to underscore class division, a recurring Shakespearian theme? Whatever the reason, it’s a perplexing decision that takes some getting used to.

But to overly fault the production on this would be harping. Beck’s spark-plug pacing and clever shading of characters, a cast that is consistently good and the sophisticated, unobtrusive staging all make for a satisfying show.

“Love’s Labour’s Lost” is not one of Shakespeare’s best comedies. It does not, for example, have the cutting social satire or romping energy of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” But as an extended joke on romance’s folly, it is an amusing look at the often confounding male-female connection. The play opens as King Ferdinand (David Barry), Berowne (Danny Shock) Longaville (William Geiger) and Dumain (Curtis Rhodes) all swear to avoid women for three years while they continue their studies. Enter the princess (Pippa Winslow) and her feisty ladies, Rosaline (Julia Elliot), Maria (Sharon Hanion) and Katharine (Denise Randol), to test their will power. The boys are overmatched.

The relationship between Berowne and Rosaline is crucial, and Shock and Elliot are excellent. Berowne agrees to the abstinence pact reluctantly and promptly breaks his vow, signaling his comrades to follow. He’s a handsome and gabby beguiler, and Shock correctly exploits his raffish charm. Elliot’s Rosaline is headstrong, sexy and smart enough to maneuver her suitor into the compromising position of begging for affection.

Barry and Winslow are less adventurous (they are, after all, playing royalty), and Barry suffers from this restraint. He is colorless at times, especially next to Winslow’s juicier portrayal. Nearly everyone seems a little pale compared to Keith Dillon as the clownish Costard. This belching, giggling nitwit is the play’s broadest stroke and provides some of its silliest turns, especially when set up as foil to the lords and their pretensions.

Susie Curtis sparkles as Moth, a page to nobleman Don Adriano de Armado. It’s a great part--one of Shakespeare’s trademark “fools” who delivers pithy insight along with the gibberish--and Curtis plumbs its potential wonderfully. Her best moments are with Armado, played by Jay Michael Fraley as a prissy but likable oddball hopelessly infatuated with Jaquenetta, the local tart.

The fine acting is complemented by Cliff Faulkner’s idyllic set, which, with the help of Pamela Rank’s lighting, gives the illusion of a lush park.

“Love’s Labour’s Lost” continues until Aug. 23 at the Gem Theatre, 12852 Main St., Garden Grove. Call (714) 636-7213 for more information.