Love's Labours Lost, 1991, Royal Shakespeare Company

Love's Labours Lost; Director, Terry Hands; Design, Timothy O'Brien; Photograph, Donald Cooper; Royal Shakespeare Company, March 1991.

"Timothy O'Brien might have collaborated with Monet and Renoir in creating the lush foliage of reds, yellows, purples and greens that towers above Shakespeare's lords as they loll on cushions enjoying their 'dejeuner sur l'herbe' in the dappled light." Benedict Nightingale, Times, 28.3.91 Opening Date: 27 March 1991; Theatre: Barbican

Modern productions of this play tend to stress the prettiness of period costume and settings, whether Edwardian, eighteenth century, or Renaissance. Elaborate costumes match the play's verbal over-sophistication. HMR