LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST | 1st - 25th July 2026

"Your wit’s too hot"

Summer 1939. Four friends escape to the country, swearing to forgo worldly pleasures to write, read, and study, but their plans are soon thwarted by a group of eccentric locals and, worse, the arrival of four dazzling women from town. Now our heroes face a challenge: how to pursue true love – without their friends finding out... The story ends on one of comedy’s great cliffhangers: one resolved in Much Ado About Nothing – also known as Love’s Labour’s Won.

Orange Tree Theatre Artistic Director Tom Littler (The Rivals; Twelfth Night, Orange Tree Theatre) returns to GSC following his triumphant Hamlet with Freddie Fox in the title role, to stage Shakespeare’s bittersweet comedy of youthful romance. Tom directed our 5-star production  in 2018.

Original music will be composed by the internationally acclaimed Matthew Floyd Jones (Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder, West End; Nanny, BBC Radio 4; A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad), Fringe First Award; The Elmer Adventure, Tall Stories), best recognised as one half of the acclaimed comedy duo Frisky & Mannish.

A co-production with the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond (The Stage Theatre of the Year 2025).

GSC co-founder, Matt Pinches: 'The prospect of staging these two beloved comedies and returning to Braboeuf Manor is incredibly exciting for our 20^th Anniversary. As the first show we produced, Much Ado will always hold a special place in our hearts, and to pair it so sensitively as Tom has done with Love’s Labour’s Lost is something very special. Beautifully staged Shakespeare, full of feel-good factor fun in an idyllic setting… what better way to spend a summer evening?'

Director, Tom Littler, adds: 'I am delighted to help celebrate the 20^th birthday of one of my favourite theatre companies, Guildford Shakespeare Company. I loved directing these two great comedies a decade ago, and I'm excited by the opportunity to return to them and, this time, to tie them together as a rich and sweeping narrative that sees love gained, lost, and, against the odds, won again. It's a treat to be back in Guildford, and to share these plays with audiences in London too - in the Orange Tree's first visit to the gardens of Thomas's College on Richmond Hill.'

'An infectious sense of escalating absurdity infuses the whole production, eventually breaking with enough force to ensure that the play’s final twist feels every bit as wrenching as it should.'  The Stage, Love's Labour's Lost, GSC 2018

These two shows will be performed by a single fabulous ensemble.

Returning familiar faces include: Sally Cheng (My Neighbour Totoro, RSC/West End; Twelfth Night, Regent’s Park) and James Sheldon (The Rivals, Orange Tree Theatre; Pride & Prejudice, Bolton Octagon) were both in our 2018 Love’s Labour’s Lost; Jeremy Lloyd (Singin’ in the Rain, Jonathan Church Prod; Spike, Watermill Theatre) played Antipholus of Syracuse in last year’s The Comedy of Errors; Owen Oakeshott (The Mousetrap, West End; Witness for the Prosecution, Eleanor Lloyd Prod) previously appeared in The Taming of the Shrew (2015) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream/The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2017).

Making their GSC debuts are Joëlle Brabban (The Rivals, Orange Tree; Romeo & Juliet, Grosvenor Park Open Air), Chirag Benedict Lobo (Private Lives, BOV, Rose, Octagon; The Circle, Orange Tree), Phoebe Pryce (The Crucible, Shakespeare’s Globe; The Importance of Being Earnest, Manchester Royal Exchange) and Robin Simpson (Laurel and Hardy, New Vic Theatre/SJT; The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal/ETT; Much Ado About Nothing, Northern Broadsides).

…and our co-founders Sarah Gobran and Matt Pinches return for our 70^th & 71^st productions!

Written by William Shakespeare
GSC Producers Sarah Gobran & Matt Pinches
Directed & Adapted by Tom Littler
Associate Director Millie Gaston
Set & Costume Designer Neil Irish
Original Music Composed by Matthew Floyd Jones
Movement Director & Choreographer Asha Jennings-Grant
Co-Costume Designer & Costume Supervisor Anett Black
Sound Designer Matt Eaton
Fight Director Philip d’Orléans
GSC Production & Company Stage Manager Hannah Walker
Deputy Stage Manager Megan Smith
Assistant Stage Manager Ebony Fosuhene
ASM Placement Sophie Taylor-Hall