Love's Labour's Lost (and Won)

For a moment in high school I had my acting era. I performed in the chorus of a few musicals and did various little sketches. Then my senior year, I had a lead role in both the fall play and spring musical. I loved it and had the time of my life. But, I fully expected to leave the world of theater forever when I graduated. Well, not so...because I've had the amazing opportunity to homeschool my kids, I was thrust back in to the world of theater, this time as the director. 

After producing Twelfth Night last year, this year I got to direct a Shakespeare play of my choice. We had a class full of incredible youth (23 of them to be exact!) and lots of talented girls, so I went with Love's Labour's Lost for its abundance of female roles. 

I edited the play on my own, then held auditions, made casting decisions with the help of my amazing co-mentors and student director, oversaw read-throughs, shared my vision for the show during production meetings, taught teenagers to dance (and convinced them it wouldn't be so bad), held 6 weeks of rehearsals, received massive amounts of help from the producers and other moms, and then sat back and watched as they blew me away with an absolutely incredible show! 

My boys and a friend chilling under the curtain during one of the many rehearsals 

These kids we SO wonderful! They worked hard. They came to rehearsals prepared with lines memorized (most of the time) and took direction and applied feedback. During tech week they showed up for hours a day everyday even while passing around a nasty head-cold. Ultimately, they came together as an amazingly unified group and put on a stunning show! 

Tech Week

I am SO proud of them! It was empowering for me to realize I could direct a play, and I think each of these awesome kids also felt empowered by their role in the show. 

I mean, just look at some of these amazing reactions!!! 

I absolutely don't have favorites among the cast, but can I brag about the two I know the best and have loved the longest? 

Hazel played Lady Boyet. Shakespeare wrote the play with a Lord Boyet, who chaperones the Princess of France and her ladies on their visit to the King of Navarre. While he plays the role of liaison in the original play, he also acts as a matchmaker and gossip among the girls which feels so out of character for a man. So, I split the role into Lord and Lady Boyet - it worked perfectly! 

Hazel did such an incredible job! My co-mentors and I all agreed that Hazel would have been an incredible Princess, but I ultimately felt that Lady Boyet would stretch her more as an actress. She worked hard and created such a fun character that felt like a mixture of Mrs. Bennet, Molly Weasley, and Marmee all wrapped in one. 

During the ball scene she gets swept up by the Spaniard - Don Armado - so she had to learn a short passo. Her partner is a legit ballroom dancer and taught her the dance. I know it was hard for her, but she nailed it! 

Eliza played the fabulous Maria, a lady to the Princess. She has never been on stage for anything before, so this was all new to her. But she did such a fantastic job! 

As we started rehearsals she was a bit timid, but the more she worked, the more confident she became. By showtime Eliza was clear and expressive and just plain wonderful! The fact that she loved her role and her beautiful dress were just bonus.

Seeing these two on stage together was the best! 

Probably one of the most unique bits of the show happened by accident. As I thought about how to best convey some of the complex plot to the audience, I landed on the idea of having scenes set to music with no lines. Looking back, I realize my inner-dancer took over and told the tricky parts of the story in movement rather than in words. Hazel started teasing me that I was choreographing a play as much as directing it (and she wasn't wrong haha!) The end result was a few incredible non-verbal scenes and an awesome ball scene with three dances. 

Lest this whole post feels too boastful, I really couldn't have done any of this without the most amazing help. My two co-mentors, Emily and Stephanie, took care of everything behind the scenes making sure the costumes, hair, makeup, music, and more were all perfect and that everyone was happy and fed. We made a great team! I also had the best student mentor and co-director Danielle. Her help was invaluable any time I got stuck on a decision, she choreographed some of the dances, and even stepped up and played on of the roles for the final performance and Shakespeare Showcase when our Don Armado was our of town. 

In the end, the most rewarding part of the whole process wasn't the incredible costumes or the kids's amazing performance. It was seeing these youth come together as a team.  As they worked and laughed and poured so much of themselves into this play, that they came together in the most magical way. So much so that our final performance was followed with lots of hugs and tearful goodbyes. 

While all the "love's labour's" in the play were lost, all of their love's labour's most certainly won! I hope they will look back on these moment with wonder. I hope they will remember they can do hard things, pour their love and hard work in to the challenges they face, and find that they soar. I know they can because I've already seen them do it!