Shakespeare North Playhouse and Stephen Joseph Theatre to Co-Produce Vibrant New Adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost

Wed 21 Aug, 2024

Today, Shakespeare North Playhouse and the Stephen Joseph Theatre today announce a vibrant new adaptation of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More or Less). The show will open at Shakespeare North Playhouse on Friday 28 February 2025 where it will run until Saturday 22 March 2025 before moving to the Stephen Joseph Theatre from Thursday 27 March until Saturday 19 April.

Directed by Paul Robinson, Stephen Joseph Theatre’s Artistic Director, this new adaptation by Elizabeth Godber and Nick Lane, tells the story of four young men attempting to improve themselves by swearing off sex in mid-90s Ibiza. Featuring belting musical numbers from the era of boy bands and Girl Power, Shakespeare’s riotous comedy is brought to life in full nineties glory.

  

The stags have made a solemn promise to each other: this is a boys’ weekend. Don’t talk to any girls, don’t even think about any girls and most importantly, do not contact the hens. 

 

The hens are ready for fun in the sun when the resort calls to say they’ve had to relocate them… to a hotel in Ibiza. Both groups of revellers are stuck on the same Mediterranean island. Cue: shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters and theatrical chaos. 

 

Merging Shakespeare’s narrative with the sounds and sights of the golden age of the nineties party era, the show promises an exciting spin on a well-known tale. 

 

Co-writer Elizabeth Godber says –

 “I’m so excited to be back working with Nick, the SJT and Shakespeare North on another hilarious Shakespeare adaptation. Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, and to get the chance to play with the language, develop the (already great) female characters, and add in plenty of 1990s pop classics has been an absolute joy! I can’t wait for audiences to come and see the show it’s funny, irreverent, and I’m sure Shakespeare would approve – he would have definitely been a Britpop fan!”  

Director Paul Robinson says –

“We had the most enormous fun making The Comedy of Errors (more or less) in the spring of 2023, and our audiences did too! We couldn’t resist following it up with another of the Bard’s early comedies.” 

Laura Collier, Creative Director at Shakespeare North Playhouse, says –

“After the success of our 2023 co-production of Comedy of Errors (More or Less)—a show so entertaining that people kept coming back for more—we knew we had to join forces again. 

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with the Stephen Joseph Theatre again, alongside the talented writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber. We all share a deep love for Shakespeare and his timeless tales, and a passion for exploring and presenting fresh, exciting perspectives and reworkings. A perfect foundation for an outrageously fun Love’s Labour’s Lost. We can’t wait to see what lies in store when we’re all transported back to the 90s” 

Tickets are available from the Shakespeare North Playhouse box office on 0151 433 7156 and online from Tuesday 20 August as well as from the Stephen Joseph Theatre box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com from 10am on Wednesday 4 September.