I love love, with all its ups and downs, the pain and joy it can cause, I believe completely in its power to bring us into new states of being, if we let it. Love’s Labour’s Lost is all about this and more. I have always been interested in the pliability of Shakespeare’s work. We often say it’s timeless and I believe that is due to his understanding of the human condition and the detailed, accurate relationships he creates. The idea of taking one of his stories and completely switching the genders to create a matriarchically-based world has been a goal of mine for years. As this season approached, I discovered the joy, silliness and romance that is Love’s Labour’s Lost and knew this would be a good story to try out the experiment. This task has been considerably more difficult than I first thought. I knew it wasn’t as simple as casting opposite genders and getting on with the process. It has required constant attention to how the actors relate with not only each other but the text and the world of the play. We, as a team, have discovered so many deeply ingrained aspects of patriarchy in our everyday lives and have explored what it means to live in this new world of possibility and experience. Not to date myself, but I grew up in the late 70’s and early 80’s and thought that would be an appropriate period to place the story, a time filled with wild new ideas, counter-culture was thriving and the genders were finding equality in ways they hadn’t experienced before, on top of all of that it was also a golden age for great pop music. All these elements have come together for this production and the icing on the cake is how it finishes. One of the most magical aspects to Love’s Labour’s Lost is the end, it is far from a typical Shakespearian comedy ending and it is a spectacular reminder for us all that things change and move fast, if we don’t pivot and adjust, we will be lost at sea with little to no hope and filled with heartbreak.

PJ Escobio | May 2025