There is something slightly odd half way through watching Love Labours Won. It’s all in verse, it’s in old style English, the acting feels like that of Shakespearean times and at the same time, there are a couple of hidden references to the modern era. And then it hits you. You are not watching a play written in the mid 16th or 17th century! This is a play written by a young artist, one of the cast in fact. If only you had checked the flyer at the start of the show you would have known it is new writer Ryan JW Smith piece of work. But why didn’t you read it? Oh yes, because of the complementary chocolate. Indeed, at the entrance to the theatre, you get a free chocolate, genius.
And the good stuff doesn’t end there. The actors are magnificent in their roles, special mention goes to Tessa Nicholson as Annabelle, an actress paid to entice the Dukes. Adam D Millard also delivers a balanced performance, and you can see he enjoys his role as Duke Caesus.
With an almost bare scenario, apart from two benches, the emphasis is not in the acting or the action, but in the spoken word, a mesmerising work from a young writer whose career we should follow very closely.
4/5
Adrian G. Velazquez
