AllWays Traveller Features
Love’s Labours’ Lost at Shakespeare’s Globe
Passion and panache make a winning mix
Love's Labour's Lost at Shakespeare's Globe, on London's Bankside, runs until 13 September 2026.
Written in 1594 or 1595 it is one of Shakespeare's earlier plays, and the first to be published (in 1598) with his name on the title page, which read :
A pleasant conceited comedie called Loves Labours Lost
As it was presented before Her Highness (Queen Elizabeth I) this last Christmas.
Newly corrected and augmented by W. Shakespeare
That Love's Labour's Lost is now one of the Bard's less frequently performed works is probably due to it being seen as 'of its time'.
For though the plot is relatively simple, there is much focus on sophisticated wordplay that demands close attention.
When first published the play was 'sold' on its dense, sophisticated wordplay, sparkling banter, puns, and rhetorical flourishes.
In the right directorial hands however, and with a reading of play's synopsis in advance, Love's Labour's Lost offers us a boisterous and very funny play that spins around sexual mores.
In her Globe Theatre directing debut, Indiana Lown-Collins transposes the setting to Spain, reflecting her own Spanish roots.
This allows her to infuse her Love's Labour's Lost with vibrant Mediterranean colour and the passionately physical expression that is flamenco.
Add a string of hilarious farcical situations and risqué humour and we have a very enjoyable and a rip-roaring good time.
It goes without saying that the whole ensemble, to a one, are exceptional.
While Love's Labour's Lost would not have been performed at the original Globe Theatre, this production at the New Shakespear's Globe is, I am sure, as it would have been.
Love's Labour's Lost also sits really well with the wonderful Much Ado About Nothing, which is also running at Shakespeare's Globe (until 24 October 2026) : https://www.allwaystraveller.com/allways-features/much-ado-about-nothing-at-shakespeares-globe.
More information :
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/loves-labours-lost/
(Images Tristram Kenton)
Simple, silly and very Shakespeare
Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, and his three lords (Berowne, Longaville and Dumaine) have pledged three years to strict study and vowed to shun the 'company' of women.
They go as far as to ban all women from the court, which immediately causes a problem when the (unnamed) Princess and her three ladies (Rosaline, Maria, and Katherine) arrive on a diplomatic mission.
Hosting the female delegation outside the city gates does not stop the four men from falling in love with the four women.
Each young man writes a secret love poem to his chosen lady, before discovering what each has done.
The king and lords decide to disguise as Russians to visit and woo the women who have, needless-to-say, discovered this and are determined to exploit the situation to maximum effect by switching identities.
All looks to be ending well when the Princess hears of the death of her father.
The women need to leave but say they will return to marry their men in a year – if the men remain faithful.
A cliffhanger for a Love's Labour's Won that never emerged?
For a full synopsis :
Other Shakespeare productions at the Globe
Much Ado About Nothing
(To 24 October 2026)
Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare's Globe, on London's Bankside, is an absolute triumph.
It is 'pitch-perfect' staging for this unique theatre and
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/much-ado-about-nothing/
As You Like It
9 September to 25 October 2026
'Rosalind, who is 'suffocating' in the newly reigning Duke's flees with Celia into the Forest of Arden.
They arrive, stumbling into a world where opposites attract, revelry is king and love is easy to find, if hard to recognise'.
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/as-you-like-it/
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse : Winter season 2026/27
Shakespeare's Globe on Bankside London has announced its Winter 2026/27 season in the indoor, candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
This more intimate indoor theatre is modelled on the candlelit theatres of Shakespeare's London.
The Winter season in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse includes :
- Julius Caesar (6 November 2026 to 14 February 2027)
- The Seagull (17 January to 12 April 2027), and
- King John (7 February to 11 April 2027)
The season is completed the premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker's The Animals Come to the Table in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/about-us/sam-wanamaker-playhouse
See also :
About Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a world-renowned theatre, education centre, and cultural landmark based on London's Bankside.
The organisation celebrates Shakespeare's transformative impact on the world by conducting a radical theatrical experiment.
Shakespeare called his theatre a 'wooden O' and like his historic playhouse, the Globe Theatre is a 360° auditorium.
With no roof over the central yard, the theatre is open-air, and audiences who attend performances and tours are told to dress for the weather!
The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is located on the same site in London, next to the Globe Theatre.
Named in honour of its founder, the Playhouse is based on indoor candlelit theatres known to Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
Lit by over one hundred beeswax candles, the intimate Sam Wanamaker Playhouse hosts plays, concerts, education workshops and events throughout the year.
Made up of the outdoor Globe Theatre and the indoor Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare's Globe remains one of the most unique, remarkable and breathtaking theatrical spaces in London.
Inspired and informed by the unique historic playing conditions of two iconic theatres, its diverse programme of work harnesses the power of performance, cultivates intellectual curiosity, and excites learning to make Shakespeare accessible for all.
At Shakespeare's Globe, more people engage with Shakespeare through their work than through that of any other organisation, with its education department one of the most active in the UK.
Activities include school workshops, public events, university courses and community projects, fulfilling Founder Sam Wanamaker's wish to bring Shakespeare and his work to a new generation.
Shakespeare's Globe's productions of Shakespeare now tour throughout the UK, Europe, the United States and Asia, and its educational work is extending overseas, notably through forthcoming teaching centres in the USA and China.
https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/about-us/globe-theatre/
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ISSN 2634-7032
London, United Kingdom
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