The Shakespeare at Winedale Spring Class performs Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, at the Winedale Theatre Barn on May 1^st and 2^nd at 7:00pm.  These performances are the culmination of a semester of coursework focusing on ‘Love and Wit in Shakespeare.’ Tickets are $10; $5 for UT ID-holders and students.  Tickets are available at www.shakespeare-winedale.org or by calling (512) 471-4726.

Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2 – Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare

Love is a familiar; love is a devil. / There is no evil angel but love. –I.ii  

Love’s Labour’s Lost opens with the King of Navarre and his three best friends swearing off women for three years, dedicating their lives to their monastic studies. Enter the Princess of France and her ladies in waiting, turning the whole court upside down. In this sparking comedy about the lengths to which people will go for love, Shakespeare invites us to a “feast of languages” with bumbling country folks, clever servants, and a besotted Spaniard.

“Shakespeare, throughout his career, explores the intersection of love and wit,” says James Loehlin, Shakespeare at Winedale Director and Regents Professor of English, explaining the different works the students are reading and performing.  “He more or less invented the clever, quarreling couple whose attraction is expressed through witty banter.  Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of the first plays in which he develops this theme, not with just one couple but with four!”

Dr. Loehlin also points out that “Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of Shakespeare’s most delightful comedies, and it’s a great play for college students to explore.  It is essentially about college students, about young people who are supposed to be studying but immediately become distracted by love.”  “Extremely clever and funny,” this play is “full of brilliant dialogue that still sparkles after 400 years.  It also has an amazing twist at the end that gives it a depth that I think is unique in Shakespearean comedy.” 

Shakespeare at Winedale is a program within the University of Texas English Department that invites students from all disciplines to learn about Shakespeare through the experience of performing his works.  Since 1970, hundreds of students have performed Shakespeare’s immortal words in the Winedale Theatre Barn, using textual interpretation, creativity, and passion to bring the plays to life.  The students of the Spring Class come together to explore several plays throughout the UT spring semester.  The course includes three weekends at the Winedale Historical Center, where students immerse themselves in the study of Shakespeare surrounded by the beauty of the Texas countryside.  Their coursework culminates in a final presentation of their studies: two performances in the Winedale Theatre Barn. 

For more information, contact:

Liz Fisher, Program Coordinator

Shakespeare at Winedale

512.471.4726

lfisher@austin.utexas.edu