Ball State's Department of Theatre and Dance will present William Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost," a story of temptation. The cast includes guest star Tony Hagopian, a Broadway actor.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-16 and at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in University Theatre. The play opens when the king of Navarre and his three lords, Berowne, Dumaine and Longaville, choose to dedicate themselves to scholarly enlightenment. While taking an oath to devote three years to study, the men cannot see, speak to or be with a woman.

Hagopian, who starred in Broadway's Tony Award-winning "Frost Nixon," will play Berowne.

Little to their knowledge, the princess of France and her three ladies arrive and challenge the king and his three lords' devotion to their work. The king insists that the ladies build camp outside the gates of the court. All the while, comical subplots enhance the story line.

The play will answer the question: Will the men proclaim their love, or will literature be their only consolation?

"Love's Labour's Lost" is directed by Karen Kessler, assistant professor of theater, and will feature faculty actress Wendy Mortimer, assistant professor of theater and dance.

Tickets are $12.50 for the general public, $11.50 for Ball State faculty and staff, $9.50 for senior citizens and $6.50 for students. Tickets can be purchased at the University Theatre box office. For more information, call the box office at 765-285-8749.

By Jennifer Strempka