Shakespeare in Yosemite's 2022 show was uniquely adapted for Yosemite National Park, based on Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost, and set in 1969 & 1970, with groovy music and costumes, and an evocation of the first Earth Day.
This film pulls together live footage of the show, as performed in Curry Village in April 2022, on-location scenes shot around Yosemite, and reflections from the cast and crew.
Summary: This show is set in 1969 and 1970. It reworks Shakespeare’s comedy to imagine two bands on songwriting retreat in Yosemite who fall in love with each other and with a world in urgent need of protection. In Shakespeare’s original play, a King and his lords swear off love—and even speaking to women—for three years in order to focus on their studies; in ours, the “Kings of Navarre” band swears off love for three months to focus on their music (spoiler alert: neither group is successful).
In the summer of 1969, folks gathered at the Harlem Cultural Festival and on a farm in Woodstock to celebrate a new era of wonderful music. But music festivals weren’t the only gatherings of note that summer, as our show represents. The youth movements of the late 1960s—fueled by music, anger, and hope—catalyzed that first Earth Day in 1970, and that those April 22nd gatherings prompted President Nixon to establish the Environmental Protection Agency later that year. The passage of several US congressional acts to safeguard the creatures of our precious planet, human and non-human, from pollution and extinction followed: updating the Clean Air Act in 1970, passing the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act in 1972 and 1973. This was also an era when Latino farmworkers were protesting pesticide exposure and low wages, when Black Americans continued fighting for their rights, when LGBTQ Americans rioted at Stonewall Inn (1969) and organized the first Pride parade (1970), and when people across the globe cried out for peace.
These were labors of love, for each other and for the planet: our show is inspired by the youth of yesterday, the “Boomer” generation. We also honor the youth of today, who march and sing and organize for a safer and more just future for us all. May their labors not be lost.
Cast:
Sierra Girls:
Rosaline: Sofia Andom
Princess: Bethy Harmelin
Katharine: Cat Flores
Maria: Bella Camfield
Kings of Navarre:
Berowne: Tonatiuh Newbold
Ferdinand: Christian Michael Smith
Dumaine: Andrew Hardy
Lou: Tawanda Chabikwa
Also in the Park:
Custard: Anne Schwartzberg
Ranger Marion: Marion Roubal
Production team for Love's Labor's Lost:
Adaptors and Show Directors: Katie Brokaw and Paul Prescott
Director of Photography and Film Director: Shawn Overton
Music Director: Tonatiuh Newbold
Sound Director: Will Darpinian
Designers: Mahea LaRosa and Grace Garnica
Costume and Prop Associates: Paja Yang and Elizabeth Aviles
Stage Manager: Julissa Murillo
Photography and Graphics: Darah Carillo Vargas
Social Media Coordinator: Cara Hill
Assistants: Isaac Gállegos Rodriguez, Hannah Maulden, and Shabnam Shirzadi
Film Organizers: Martin Arredondo, Will Darpinian, Diangelica Gomez
Support in the Yosemite:
Scott Gediman, Public Affairs Officer
Erin Callahan, Yosemite Hospitality Executive Assistant
Bryan Hammill, Curry Village General Manager
Sponsoring partners: UC Merced, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Hospitality, the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, and Misfit Press
