PORTLAND, Maine — You may have never heard The Bard like this before.
William Shakespeare’s ribald, comedic play, “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” is almost 450 years old, and now, likely for the first time, it’s being set on a Maine island by the Portland-based Fenix Theatre Company. The production comes complete with annoying summer people, boat-shoed bros in pastel shorts and at least one local, flannel-wearing character delivering the British playwright’s celebrated poetry in a broad Down East accent.
“It happens to work really well with the cadence of the material. Who knew?” said Megan Cross, who delivers the drawling lines as the hilarious, summer-estate caretaker, Costard.
The Maine-centric twist is the brainchild of director Katelyn Manfre, who reckons the familiar setting will help get the play over to audiences who may be wary of Shakespeare’s high-falutin language.
Kat Moraros — who plays Rosaline, Mote and Sir Nathaniel — is a veteran of several Fenix Theatre Company Shakespeare-in-the-park shows and loves Manfre’s idea.
“The beautiful thing about Shakespeare is that it’s just stories of the human experience,” Moraros said. “That’s timeless, you can set it anywhere. You could set it on Mars if you wanted to. We all relate to the stories and the relationships and the characters in some way.”
It’s not the first reimagining of The Bard’s work in a Down East setting. In another example from three years ago, Lamoine-based playwright Brent Hutchins rewrote and put on scenes from “Henry V” as though they were set in the fictional Maine town of Broad Harbor.
For the new production of “Love’s Labor’s Lost,” Manfre cut the hours-long play down to a slim 90 minutes but didn’t change any of Shakespeare’s language. Her Maine variation is communicated through costumes, the set and the judicious use of Down East accents.
The play’s plot is classic, romantic fare, which Manfre said resembles a 1980s summer movie farce.
“That’s why these plays have survived as long as they have,” she said. “If you think you don’t like Shakespeare, try again.”
In the play, three wealthy men swear off women for three years of study and celibacy, isolating themselves off the Maine coast. Shakespeare set the play in the Basque kingdom of Navarre. In Manfre’s version, Navarre is a tiny Maine island, population 350.
But then comes a group of beautiful women who camp out on the island, and amorous hijinks ensue. The action is further complicated by nosey island locals and a group of annoying summer people who turn relatively simple love triangles into much more complicated, romantic geometric shapes. Questions of who will finally couple up with whom, before Maine’s short summer is over, abound.
“I liked the idea that this would like take place in New England, in our own summertime, because — like, look around — it’s so atmospheric. It’s beautiful,” Manfre said. “It fits seamlessly into a summer evening. The play is funny. It’s quick. It’s got a lot of silly characters.”
As with all Fenix productions, the play is free and performed in Deering Oaks park, this time in a grove of towering trees. The pond, seagulls and Canada geese swimming and cavorting behind the actors helps create the illusion of being on an island. Sometimes, city noises including loud motorcycles, ambulances and helicopters intrude on the action, but actors know how to take it in stride, Moraros said.
“We’ll watch it go by with everyone. We’ll wait, and then we’ll keep going because we’re not gonna yell over it,” she said.
“Love’s Labor’s Lost” runs Thursday through Saturday, weather permitting, July 11 through Aug. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
