Aaron Bogad, Director of the Arts at Salesianum School, selects a show each year that fits the school’s yearly theme. With this year’s theme being “Change you, Change the World,” he has chosen Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost because of its correlation to the theme through focusing on the importance of self reflection followed by taking action to make positive change. An additional reason Bogad is drawn to Love’s Labour’s Lost is its significance to the school’s patron saint, St. Francis DeSales. Bogad wanted to start the year with a Shakespeare show because he is a “historical contemporary of DeSales.” He also says, “This play is so clearly about how the first step to changing oneself is to acknowledge the truth that already exists. That is our opening statement, change is impossible without honest reflection and then action.”

Salesianum’s modernized version of Love’s Labour’s Lost is set in a 1980s high school, following King Ferdinand and his lords on their journey through swearing off women and all distractions to pursue lives dedicated to study. Although the play is still portrayed in Old English, the actors convey the material in a way that is easily understood by the audience, bringing physical comedy and emotion to the stage. Salesianum junior Quinn Murphy, who plays Lord Berowne, says, “What really interested me about the show was the Shakespearean aspect of [it] . . . I’ve never had an opportunity to do a Shakespeare, and as someone who wants to make a life doing this work, it is an amazing opportunity.”

Padua sophomore Jess Classen, who plays Princess, encourages people to come see the show. “Salesianum School Theater puts it’s own spin on this Shakespeare comedy, so I’m sure no one in the audience will think of this show as ‘boring Shakespeare’ after they have come to see it,” she said. Salesianum School Theater’s fall production of Love’s Labour’s Lost will be held on November 3rd, 4th, and 5th in Spragg Auditorium at Salesianum School.