After our recent outing to experiance the opera, we felt that we didn’t get enough culture.  Not wanting to got to the opera again any time soon, we settled for traditional Shakespeare, and a comedy.

Tobacco FactorySo last night we (Brad, myself, Trudi, Mouldy and Ali) found ourselves at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol to see Love’s Labours Lost.

We all enjoyed it, but as with most Shakespeare it does go on a bit.  I think the main complaint was that it was rather too hot in the theatre.

See below for extract from one of the reviews.

Review by Pete Wood(2006)

In the court of the King of Navarre, … the King and three of his chums take a solemn vow to renounce the world and embrace the life of academe. Bye bye booze, sayonara sleeping until noon, and, most particularly, good night sweet ladies.

Except the King couldn’t have picked a worse time. Enter the Princess of France with three languorously plush ladies-in-waiting and the first lesson for the would-be scholars is that “virtue is insufficient temptation,” to quote Shaw.

Shakespeare probably came up with the plot for Love’s Labours Lost - one of his very few original schemata - on the back of a Tudor beermat. There’s no disguising of gender, no flights into the forest and no mistaken identification.

In truth, not a lot happens and the appeal of the play resides in persiflage and general horsing around. 

 Tobacco Factory information