Ungentlemanly in Verona

If you're heading out to see the Shakespeare Theatre's latest production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, first of all, lucky you! This modern-day adaptation (retaining the language) of Shakespeare's early romantic comedy is breathtakingly energetic.

A warning, though, it is violent. Not quite Stacy Keach King Lear violent, but heads are hit and blood is shed. So much so that my friend and I both were wishing the two gentlemen would wipe their faces before taking their bows at the end.

I confess that, during Sunday's IDR, I took great pleasure in watching these two really great-looking gentlemen: Andrew Veenstra as Valentine (who also served as the fight captain) and Nick Dillenburg as Proteus. Another familiar face was that of Euan Morton as the servant/dog lover Launce.

I last saw the handsome Veenstra in Shakespeare Theatre's production of The Heir Apparent, and the versatile Morton in Ford Theatre's production of Parade last fall.

Note, don't be confused by the rock opera version of Two Gentlemen, which is also scheduled for later this month at Sidney Harman Hall. The gentlemen of whom I write now are appearing at the Lansburgh.


Two Gentlemen of Verona (aka Two Gents) cast picture, courtesy of The Shakespeare Theatre

The Two Gentlemen of Verona
directed by P. J. Paparelli
set design by Walt Sangler
Costume design by Paul Spadone

Cast
Valentine: Andrew Veenstra
Speed: Adam Green
Proteus: Nick Dillenburg
Launce: Euan Morton
Crab (his dog): Olliver
Antonio: Christopher McHale
Panthino: Stephen Patrick Martin
Julia: Miriam Silverman
Lucetta: Inga Ballard
Duke of Milan: Brent Harris
Silvia: Natalie Mitchell
Thurio: Gene Gillette
Eglamour: Todd Scofield

View this post on my arts (and miscellaney) blog, Hosaa's Blog.

The "Beautiful" Two Gentlemen

Next on the Shakespeare Readers' schedule is Two Gentlemen of Verona, which scholar David Bevington has described as "the most neglected of Shakespeare's comedies in the theater." Luckily, it is coming soon to a theater near us, The Shakespeare Theatre's beautiful Lansburgh Theatre, January 7-March 4, 2012.

So if this "neglected" piece needs an introduction, a sweet place to start is the rendering of the story by Edith Nesbit in her collection of Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare.

Written a bit over a century ago and intended for an audience of 9- to 12-year-olds, the Beautiful Stories have a quaintness not typically found in the average plot summary. Of Valentine and Proteus, Nesbit warns us, "only one of them was really a gentleman, as you will discover later."

Valentine was happy in his name because it was that of the patron saint of lovers; it is hard for a Valentine to be fickle or mean. Proteus was unhappy in his name, because it was that of a famous shape-changer, and therefore it encouraged him to be a lover at one time and a traitor at another.

Two Gentlemen is also the source of one of Shakespeare's better known songs:

Who is Silvia? what is she,
That all our swains commend her?
Holy, fair, and wise is she;
The heaven such grace did lend her
That she might admired be.

So, get ready to use your voice!

In Bard We Trust.