When I saw that the Gamut Theatre Group had chosen to put on Love’s Labour’s Lost as their annual Shakespeare in the Park show, I was, um… surprised. First of all, let’s get this out on the table, yes, I was English major and I have read plenty of Shakespeare. Snicker, snicker. Let’s move on. Anyway, I was surprised by the selection because it’s not a show that most companies will put on, largely because it’s nearly incomprehensible. That’s not to say that the story isn’t a good one and that the show isn’t funny — it is and it is. It’s just that almost any Shakespeare scholar will tell you that while Love’s Labour’s Lost is Shakespeare’s first work of true genius, it is also one of his most difficult reads. The play is about the King of Navarre and companions Berowne, Dumaine and Longaville who swear off women for three years in order to concentrate on study. At least they say they are going to until Princess of France and some of her ladies pay a visit. Sexy right? Decidedly less sexy are the pages upon pages of highly-intellectual Latin puns. Even wikipedia calls the play “pedantic.” But after reading in the Patriot-News that director J. Clark Nicholson had edited the play heavily and taken inspiration from the John Hughes comedies of the 80’s I was intrigued. I gave Nicholson a call and he assured me that he has nixed the archaic wordplay and left behind a pretty good story. He's got me convinced and I'd like to go see the show, which opens its two-week run tonight. Here’s what he had to say: