POULSBO — William Shakespeare’s comedy “Love’s Labor’s Lost” is coming to Gordon Elementary.

Twenty-five Options students in grades five and six will perform the play at 7 p.m. May 6, 8, and 9 at Gordon Elementary.

Teacher Bob DeWeese, who is directing the play, said, “It’s a comedy. The characters are broad and appealing. It has a lot going for it.”

DeWeese said he selected the play — after students in previous years had tackled such weighty Shakespearean fare as “Hamlet,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” — because of the challenge it presented to the students.

“It hasn’t been done very much, even on the college level,” DeWeese said. “I wanted to challenge the kids to do something no Options class had ever done.”

DeWeese said the large number of comedic actors in the classes also helped him decide what play to do.

“I have so many great comedic actors,” he said.

There are three casts for the play; there is also an updating setting. The students may have kept Shakespeare’s language, but they have moved the time and place of the play to an American college campus in the 1940s. Evidence of the change include the sets, where posters advertise dormitories and lost pets, as well as the cast, where Ferdinand, the play’s king, has been changed to a class president who confronts problems on campus.

The plot concerns four male characters, all in college, who want to stop living the “college life” — partying, chasing girls, etc. They even claim to ignore four French foreign-exchange students on campus.

Naturally hilarity ensues.

“It all falls to pieces immediately, of course,” DeWeese said. “All four pairs fall in love and the typical assortment of absurd characters keep popping up.”

Students have worked hard on the play, memorizing lines, following stage direction, and perfecting entrances and exits.

Stephanie Guy, a veteran of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” will now take the stage as Roslyn.

“She’s sort of sassy,” Guy said, describing her character. “She’s fun to play. She has lines I like.”

Sixth-grader Blythe Peterson, who played a comedic character, said, “I like being funny. I like making people laugh.”

Anything else?

Peterson said, “I like it when I get to go on stage.”

The play’s cast includes students Ryan Trevors, Dorian Goettler, Kandal Peiguss, Hava Goff, Anna Johnson, Alex Turkowski, Kalen Edwards, Jared Rusk, Alex Terry, Chyna Riedel, Megan Spence, Sofia Hart, Stephanie Guy, Myriah Riedel, Megan Jetter, Katya West, Danielle Cercone, Kellie Glen, Torre Terry, Maddie Olanie, Ry Ravenholt, Lila Burns, and Rusty Scott.