Shakespeare in the Squares is a wonderful not-for-profit touring theatre company that stages a new Shakespeare play across London's green spaces each summer, performing for one night in every venue. Their founding sponsor, Domus Nova, hosts a picnic area with garden games included, so guests can come along early with their own picnic and enjoy complimentary drinks and snacks from the pop-up bar too. Having attended the 2024 and 2025 productions, I was excited to be back again, this time at St Peter's Square (near Hammersmith) for its tenth anniversary.
Directed by Toby Gordan, this year they have adapted Love's Labour's Lost. This beloved Shakespeare comedy is set in a Kingdom called Navarre, where a Young King Ferdinand (Nathan Musoki) persuades his peers, Berowne (Niall Ransome), and Armado (Dexter Southern) to join him in a new oath: no woman shall come within a mile of the court. He is clear - any man seen talking to a woman shall be publicly shamed. However, this oath is soon put to the test when the Princess of France (Laura Andresen Guimaraes) and her companions (Katherine, played by Flo Lunnon, Rosaline, played by Rhiannon Neads, and Boyet, played by Emma Manton) arrive on ‘urgent diplomatic business'. Soon, the men are struggling not to fall for the temptation the women bring, and flirtation, love letters, and floral displays of love begin to follow.
The production is playful in its subject, with the women teasing the men in masquerade masks and tempting them through displays of seduction. The banter between the characters lands brilliantly, with the audience chuckling along often. Facial expressions, wild gestures, exaggerations, and ‘dress-up' costumes are used to add to the comedy already enriched in the dialogue of Shakespeare.
While Gordan has kept much of the language used in the original play, the actors adopt a slowed-down approach to the language, and the energetic actions, along with silly props and music, enable the modern audience, including children, to be able to follow along well. Music was used throughout, including guitars, trumpets, and flutes, and they sang rock and pop classics from the 1960s and ‘70s.
The character of Costard (played by John Holt-Roberts, who was also in last year's production of The Taming of the Shrew) was hilariously entertaining as ever. He interacted with the audience too, directing questions, picking up someone's water bottle, and some of the other cast members even sat in with the audience in some scenes too. This added to the light-hearted, relaxed atmosphere of having the play in an outside space. The minimalistic stage with just the grass space in front of the audience, and a lighting fence behind, enabled the characters to transition on and off and around the ‘stage' too.
In all three years I've watched one of Shakespeare in the Squares' productions, the directors never fail to incorporate lively music, silly props, and light-hearted antics, and to craft them so brilliantly. I really believe these aspects of the play heighten the comedy and make these productions more fun and inviting for all ages. It makes Shakespeare more accessible, more family-friendly, and with the full-packed audience of this evening, I am quite certain the company will keep thriving year after year.
The play runs across London each summer, performing for one night in every venue. Tickets and info: here.
Review: Cara-Louise Scott-Lapish