Love’s Labour’s Lost

Directed by Toby Gordon

We will be back this summer to celebrate our 10th anniversary with a new production of Love’s Labour’s Lost, Shakespeare’s sparkling comedy of flirtation, foolishness and the irresistible pull of love.

3rd June – 12th July

Book Tickets

Director’s Note

New rules are in place in the Kingdom of Navarre. Young King Ferdinand persuades his companions to join him in an oath of abstinence and study.

The terms of the oath are clear: no woman shall come within a mile of the court. Any man seen talking with a woman shall endure such public shame as the rest of the court can possibly devise.

The conviction of the men of Navarre is soon put to the test when the Princess of France and her companions arrive on urgent diplomatic business. How can the men possibly navigate this visit without breaking their oath?

Bring your picnic and wine, your sunglasses and your participatory spirit, and join Shakespeare in the Squares for a summer cocktail of poetic pageantry and light-hearted lunacy, featuring rock and pop classics from the 1960s and ’70s.

Come and join us in Navarre for a sparkling night of flirtation and foolishness as we celebrate our 10th anniversary in summer 2026.

Toby Gordon, February 2026

Actors

Cast

Laura Andresen Guimaraes

Princess of France

Laura is a British-Portuguese actor and musician who trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Her theatre credits include Aladdin (Leeds City Varieties), The Rainbow (Perth Theatre & Concert Hall), Midsummer (The Mercury, The Barn), Unbelievable (Criterion Theatre, West End; Manchester Opera House; Mercury Theatre), Othello (The Watermill Theatre), Swallows & Armenians (Cumbria Opera Group), and Just So (The Watermill Theatre). Other credits include An Evening with Pink Floyd (UK tour), Star Sisters (R&D), Katherine of Aragon (Whispered Tales), Associate Musical Director for The Rainbow (Perth Theatre & Concert Hall), saxophonist and vocalist at the Qatar World Cup 2022, The Clockmaker’s Daughter in Concert (Cadogan Hall), BBC One’s Pitch Battle, and Carly Paoli: Live at Cadogan Hall.

John Holt-Roberts

Costard

John trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. He’s thrilled to be returning to Shakespeare in the Squares after playing Gremio/The Widow in last year’s The Taming of the Shrew. Other credits include Welfare, A Christmas Carol, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood and the Major Oak and Kes (Derby Theatre), Cinderella (Chester Storyhouse), Twelfth Night (JLA Productions), The Gingerbread Man (Hiccup Theatre, National Tour), Troupers / Till the Cows Come Home (Mikron Theatre, National Tour), The Dinner (Lamphouse Theatre/Switch Festival). Film credits include Father Christmas Is Back (MSR Media) and Zomblogalypse (One and Other Creative). John has performed extensively across the country with band Hyde Family Jam.

Flo Lunnon

Katherine/Jaquenetta

Originally from sunny Somerset, Flo is a recent graduate of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama studying Musical Theatre: Acting & Performance MA. Credits include The Musical Medea (Upstairs at The Gatehouse), The Gardening Club (The New Wimbledon Theatre) and SCROOGICAL! (West End in Schools).

Emma Manton

Boyet

Emma’s theatre includes: Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist (Rose Theatre); First Encounters: Twelfth Night, The Heart of Robin Hood, Love’s Labour’s Lost / Love’s Labour’s Won (RSC/Chichester Festival Theatre/Haymarket Theatre); The Christmas Truce (all RSC); As You Like It, The Jungle Book (Watermill); His Dark Materials (National Theatre); The Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Chichester/West End/Toronto); Hitler’s Canary (Watford Palace Theatre); Confusions / Hero’s Welcome (Stephen Joseph Theatre); The Wind in the Willows (New Vic, Stoke on Trent); Private Peaceful (Nottingham Playhouse/Tour); A Christmas Carol (Middle Temple Hall); Macbeth / Romeo & Juliet (Guildford Shakespeare Company). Television includes: Doctors, Casualty, Silent Witness, The Office (BBC), Grandpa in My Pocket (Shrinking Cap); Cul de Sac (Working Title). Film includes: The Present (Liminal Productions).

Nathan Musoki

Ferdinand

Nathan trained at Regent’s University London and LAMDA. His theatre work includes: The Zone (Stockwell Playhouse), The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi (Netherlands Tour), Primary (Hampstead Theatre). Film and TV credits include: Red, White & Royal Blue, Breaking the Band and Violating Peace. Nathan is very excited to be making his Shakespeare in the Squares debut as King Ferdinand.

Rhiannon Neads

Rosaline

Rhiannon is a Somerset-born writer/performer who trained at LAMDA. Theatre credits: Autobiography of a Cad (The Watermill Theatre), The Nutcracker (Taunton Brewhouse), Supernova (Omnibus Theatre), All Lies (Alan Ayckbourn Company), The Wind Of Heaven (Finborough), 3 Billion Seconds (Paines Plough Roundabout), Leia and the Roman (VAULT Festival), Mary’s Babies (Oak Theatre) and Great Expectations (Merton Arts). TV and Film credits: Call The Midwife, Blitz with Lucy Worsley, Father Brown and Doctors (BBC), Wilding (Amazon Prime), and Downton Abbey (ITV). Audio credits: When I Fall, The Girls of Slender Means, Lenin Forever, Harland, English Rose, Not With the Eyes, Sappho, The Blue Lenses, Vital Signs and Home Front (all for BBC Radio). She is the host of long-running espionage podcast True Spies (Spyscape Studios). Rhiannon is one half of musical comedy duo Stiff & Kitsch whose shows include: Adele Is Younger Than Us (Pleasance, Edinburgh) and Bricking It (Soho Theatre). Their work has been featured on BBC Three, Comedy Central and The Now Show (BBC Radio 4). They are currently in development with new musical Please Stop Singing.

Niall Ransome

Berowne

Niall has appeared in The Comedy About Spies*, Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle, Mischief Movie Night*, The Play That Goes Wrong*, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery*, and Nativity Goes Wrong (all Mischief Theatre, *West End). Other work includes Romeo and Juliet (Rose Playhouse Theatre), Pinocchio (Hull Truck Theatre), Around the World in 80 Days (Theatre By The Lake/ Hull Truck Theatre), Tasting Notes (Southwark Playhouse), Tunnels (Park Theatre), The 39 Steps (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Treasure Island (Stephen Joseph Theatre), The Hound of The Baskervilles (Original Theatre Company, UK Tour), and FCUK’D (Theatre Royal, Holland). For television, Murder They Hope and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

Dexter Southern

Armado/Dumain

Training: Rose Bruford. Recent theatre includes: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker (Teatro Sala Umberto); Tonight Someone Dies (Hatcher Productions), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (English Speaking Theatre Vienna), The Prince and the Pauper (Trinity Theatre), Twelfth Night, Robin Hood’s Adventures (Three Inch Fools). Dexter is also a core member of the Shakespeare Improv Troupe Shake It Up, performing with them all over the UK and Europe. He is very pleased to be joining the SITS company this year, and if anyone fancies buying him an ice cream in the interval, he’ll be hiding in the bushes…

Behind the Scenes

Crew

Toby Gordon

Director

Toby is an actor and theatre maker from York. Toby trained at LAMDA. His theatre credits include Small Change (Omnibus Theatre); The Wolf of Wall Street and The Great Gatsby (Hartshorn Hook); York Mystery Plays (York Minster); Antigone (Barbican). Toby performed in Shakespeare in The Squares’ Twelfth Night as the Duke Orsino / Sir Toby Belch and as Parolles / Assistant Director for All’s Well That Ends Well. Toby made is Shakespeare in the Square’s Director debut with last year’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Francesca Gregson

Executive Producer / Marketing

Francesca is the founder of Distrikt Communications, a London-based PR and marketing agency. Distrikt works with a range of creative clients, including architectural practices, theatre companies and arts festivals, and is dedicated to promoting the best of London’s cultural activities and events. Francesca joined Shakespeare in the Squares as Marketing Manager for The Tempest (2022) and has been Executive Producer since Twelfth Night (2023).

Alex Pearson

Executive Producer

Alex is an experienced Director and Producer, who has worked at a large number of venues throughout London and the rest of the country, on a multitude of different productions, including plays, musicals and operas. Alex has a passion for Shakespeare, and is progressively working through his entire canon, either as Assistant Director or Director. Alex joined Shakespeare in the Squares as Assistant Director for The Tempest (2022) and became Executive Producer for Twelfth Night (2023).

Charlotte Benedict

Movement Director

Charlotte is a movement director from York. Her recent credits include Sleep Pirates (2022), A Midsummer Night’s Mischief (2023) for Hoglets Theatre Company, and last year’s The Taming of the Shrew, as well as Choreographer for the York Maze summer seasons (2023–2025) and Hallowscream Stage Shows (2023–2025). Charlotte is delighted to be bringing her passion for storytelling through movement to this vibrant production.

Kathryn Corlett

Graphic Designer & Illustrator

Kathryn is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator; this is her sixth year creating bespoke, theme specific designs for Shakespeare in the Squares. She studied Graphic Design at Falmouth College of Arts and has 19 years experience as a professional designer, working on a broad range of projects including marketing, book, exhibition and brand design.

Eleanor Lloyd

Press

Eleanor is the Communications Manager of Distrikt Communications. She has a BA in English Literature and Language and an MA in Media and Creative Industries from Loughborough University. As a keen theatre-goer, she is delighted to be a part of the team. This is her third year working for Shakespeare in the Squares.

Annemarie Lewis Thomas

Musical Director

Credits include Sleeping Beauty (Watersmeet), Crazy Coqs Presents, West End at the Life Cafe, Oliver (Wycombe Swan), Elephant and Piggie’s We Are In A Play (Perform in the Park), Don’t Tell The Bishop (Actors’ Church), Misleading Ladies (Cornerstone, Cardiff), Billie The Kid (Workshop & West End concert), The Wizard of Poz (2 Brewers), The Greater Game (Southwark Playhouse), Home for Christmas (Grand Theatre, Swansea), From Up Here (Trafalgar Studios), Annie (No 1 tour), Black Eyed Susan (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), Rent (Olympia Theatre Dublin) UK premieres of Victor/Victoria (Bridewell), The Ultimate Man (Bridewell), Reefer Madness (Bridewell) and Naked Boys Singing (Madam JoJos), the London premiere of Calamity Jane (BAC). Annemarie has also composed for many shows and was the Founder & Principal of the multi-award winning drama college, The MTA, 2009 – 2022. She has been Musical Director for Shakespeare in the Squares since Twelfth Night (2023).

John Huyton

Production Manager

John trained at The Drama Centre London and has worked as Company Manager on numerous UK Tours and West End productions. John has worked with producers Sonia Friedman, Michael Harrison & Kenny Wax, Cameron Mackintosh, The Ambassador Theatre Group and PW Productions Ltd, on productions directed by Trevor Nunn, Lindsey Posner, Robin Herford, Simon Callow and Craig Revell Horwood. Shows have featured well known actors such as Brian Cox, Patrick Stewart, Dame Diana Rigg, Zoe Wannamaker, Dominic West, Simon Callow, Joanna Lumley, Sinead Cusack and Rufus Sewell. This is John’s third summer with Shakespeare in the Squares.

Bethany Fulcher

Company Stage Manager

Bethany trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked on a range of plays and musicals across the UK. Her theatre credits include Blood Brothers (Bill Kenwright Limited), Never Let Me Go & Glass Menagerie (Rose Theatre), Kin (Factory Playhouse Productions), Quiet Rebels (Vital Xposure) and Soon & Pilot (Eclipse Theatre) at Edinburgh Fringe festival. This is Bethany’s fourth year with Shakespeare in the Squares.

Helen Parkin-Moore

Assistant Stage Manager

Helen trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Theatre includes This is Not a Happy Room (King’s Head Theatre), The Lonely Londoners (Kiln Theatre), The Forsyte Saga (Park Theatre), The Barber of Seville (Waterperry Opera Festival), Into The Woods (Royal Academy of Music), Succession Theme is My Ringtone (Rose Theatre), Peter Pan (Rose Theatre), A Single Man (Park Theatre), Follies, Beauty and the Beast, Curtains (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama), and last year’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Camilla Dilshat

Production Assistant

Camilla is an emerging sculpture & installation artist based in London. She holds an MA in Fine Art from the City & Guilds of London Art School where she won the Tony Carter Award. Afterwards, she stayed on at CGLAS as the Wood Fellow until 2025. Alongside her art practice, Camilla has been involved for the past two years as a Student Administrator for The Creative Dimension Trust and is excited to assist the Shakespeare in the Squares team for Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Martin Neild

Founder Producer

Martin worked in publishing for over thirty years. He worked for Macmillan in Australia,Africa and London and became Chief Executive of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers in 1993. He is Co-Chair of the Oxford School of Drama and a trustee of the Michael Cuddigan Trust which gives grants to young composers. He is a regular and passionate theatregoer.

Sue Fletcher

Founder Producer

Sue had a forty-year career in book publishing, including as co-founder of Headline and Deputy MD of Hodder & Stoughton. She has an MA in Theatre and Performance from Queen Mary, University of London, and in 2011 was one of the judges for the Olivier Awards. She goes to the theatre three or four times a week and remains captivated by the magic of live performance.

Emily Stuart

Designer

Emily is an award-winning costume designer living and working in London. Previous credits for Shakespeare in the Squares are The Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing. She was shortlisted for the 2025 UK Pantomime Awards for her costumes for Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre, Chipping Norton) and regularly works with Sweet Charity (Glastonbury Festival).

Colette Robinson-Collcutt

Costume Supervisor

Colette is a costume supervisor and costume maker based in London. Her work has been seen in many Fringe and West End shows. Recent credits include Wardrobe Assistant on Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe), Head of Wardrobe for Wishmas (Secret Cinema), Wardrobe assistant on Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe). Previous Shakespeare in the Square credits as costume supervisor: The Taming of the Shrew (2023), Macbeth (2024), All’s Well That Ends Well (2024), Twelfth Night (2023) and The Tempest (2022).

Bella Chapman

Assistant Director

Bella graduated from Durham University with a degree in English Literature. Bella has a background in directing, intimacy coordination/ direction and acting. She was the Co-President of Fourth Wall Theatre Company, with which she directed Fiji, which went on to win the Palatinate Award 2023 (best Durham University show of the year; over 100+ plays and musicals). Other notable experiences include her playing Shay (lead female) in the sell-out, critically acclaimed play May Contain Traces of Nuts at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was named Best Ensemble Performance (Theatre Weekly) and received multiple five-star reviews. Bella’s passion for intersectional feminism has been, and continues to be, a driving force in her creative work. This is Bella’s second summer with Shakespeare in the Squares.

Jane Frisby

Casting Director

Jane previously cast The Tempest, Twelfth Night, All’s Well That Ends Well and last year’s The Taming of the Shrew, she also collaborated on the company’s first Winter Tour of Macbeth. She has worked extensively with the National Film and Television School and on numerous graduation short films for the London Film School. Her credits include a range of feature films, from Hear My Song (1991) to Interview With a Hitman and Jellyfish.