The show: The Elm Shakespeare Company presents a free outdoor show of “Love's Labour’s Lost” — a rarely produced early Shakespeare play — through Sept. 2 in Edgerton Park.

First impressions: Linguistic razzmatazz and poetry rather than narrative strength is the thing. This playful mating dance among young lovers of college age in this university town has added significance in this new era of relationships. Production has plenty of charm, humor and substance, though the Bard’s verbosity can sometimes be over-the-top.

The plot: Ferdinand, the young King of Navarre (Martin Lewis) and his three courtier pals (Aaron Bartz, Michael Hinton, Kingston Farady) forswear the distraction of women and other pleasures for what they see as the far nobler pursuit of the mind. The king’s BFF Berowne (Bartz) immediately sees the futility of the challenge — but goes along anyway, what with royal peer pressure and all.

But these best laid plans are tested when the Princess of France (Rachel Clausen) and her trio of self-assured ladies of the court arrive on state business and challenge the men’s character, will and libido.

But these are ladies-in-waiting for the noble frat boys to grow up. In a clever switcheroo, the women discover that they are merely interchangeable objects of affection to these fools for love and decide that — despite the guys’ original lofty pursuits — more enlightenment is needed when it comes to true love.

Brightening the schematic narrative are simple subplots involving a lovesick Spanish noble, a dull policeman, a rustic clown, a curate and a pompous schoolmaster Holofernes (Benjamin Curns, very good — think “Frasier.”)

Elm’s production: Rebecca Goodheart (a name born to stage the Bard) directs the work with a playful and musical touch and navigates through the denser linguistic passages with, if not clarity, at least a sense of dispatch.

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