This Greenville Journal article by Paul Hyde was originally published on May 11th, 2024.
John Fagan celebrates his 25th year leading the Upstate Shakespeare Festival with two favorites: an early Shakespeare comedy and two history plays combined into one.
“Love’s Labour’s Lost” opens the festival May 23 and runs through June 16. “Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2” follows on July 5 and continues through July 28.
Fagan has set “Love’s Labour’s Lost” in the 1960s with a suggestion of the daffy world and upbeat pop music of the “Austin Powers” movies.
The play centers on a king and his three companions who swear off the company of women for three years in order to devote themselves to studying and fasting.
Complications ensue, of course, when the Princess of France and her ladies enter the scene.
“It’s very silly, a fun battle of the sexes,” said Fagan, the producing artistic director of the festival. “The guys are trying to live up to their promise but at the same time, there’s all these beautiful women. It’s just a fun romp.”
The play is noted for its word games and other exhibitions of verbal brilliance.
“This is one of Shakespeare’s early plays where he’s trying to show us everything he can do,” Fagan said.
The brisk 90-minute production features a local cast of 16. The festival last performed the play in 2006.
In addition to celebrating his 25th year leading the festival, Fagan recently received news that he’ll be honored with the South Carolina Theatre Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in June.
Unforgettable Falstaff
For the festival’s second production, Fagan is combining two of Shakespeare’s plays into one two-hour production.
“Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2” tells the story of the young Prince Hal and his companion, the unforgettable rogue Sir John Falstaff.
“Falstaff is one of the great lovable scoundrels in literature,” Fagan said. “He’s a knight, a thief, a drunk and a liar but also a father figure to Prince Hal who will become Henry V.”
Patrons shouldn’t think of the play as a dry account of history but rather as a “buddy action comedy,” Fagan said.
Simon Crowe, a longtime Upstate Shakespeare Festival actor, will play Falstaff.
“It’s a great honor and a challenge that I’m very exciting about taking on,” Crowe said. “The character of Falstaff contains so much of the human experience, and I want my performance and our production to capture all of that.”
The play features a cast of 23.
Want to go?
What: The Warehouse Theatre Upstate Shakespeare Festival
When: Thursday-Sunday, 7 p.m.: “Love’s Labour’s Lost” (May 23-June 16; no performances June 7-8); “Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2” (July 5-28)
Where: Falls Park
Tickets: Free admission, donations appreciated
