OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA OFF-BROADWAY REVIEW
Reviewed by Sasha Pensanti
Published 2010-08-20
As a general rule, Two Gentlemen of Verona is a
fairly under produced production. Shakespeare has a large catalog, and with
many of his plays ending on a lighter (or completely dark) note, they're
an obvious choice for theatre companies. While it falls into the category of
"comedy" Two Gentlemen of Verona is actually a rather sad
play. Or at least, it can be. I made my way to the TBG Theatre on West 36th
street with low expectations. Having never seen a production by the Judith
Shakespeare Company before, I had no idea what to expect. My only knowledge of
what I was about to see going into the show was that it was fairly black box as
far as set goes (we'll talk about that later) and that the casting was reversed
(according to the playbill, a signature of this company). All the men were to
be played by women, and vice versa.
The show begins and one man with a guitar enters ("the band") and
begins to play a pleasant acoustic tune. One by one, cast members enter. They
are not yet characters in the play, just silent versions of themselves actively
choosing their character by picking up one of the many costumes strewn around
the floor and other "set pieces." Okay, actually the girls do all the
choosing. The men make a silent stink about it, crying over the skirts and
corsets they're being forced into, but still, it is a conscious decision by
these company members to play roles of the opposite gender. These are real
people in a company, or so it seems. Two girls fight over one guy (sound
familiar?) and the girls make the rules. They seemed to be having fun together,
sans words, using only laughter and other random sounds to convey their
thoughts as they dress one another, play around and even pull a real live dog
out of a box (definitely a scene stealer later).
Once all the dressing and casting is finished, it's on with the show! In
classic Shakespeare style, Two Gentlemen of Verona is a tale of
friendship, love, mistaken identity and...pirates? Okay, the pirates are a bit
out of sorts, but good old William was kind enough to write in the character of
Crab the dog for us to laugh at when things started to look down. In the far
away land of Verona, in a time much different from our own, there were two
friends Valentine and Proteus (Rachael Hip-Flores and Sheila Joon). Proteus is
of a higher social standing than his life long best friend Valentine. He's also
madly in love with the lovely lady Julia. Valentine is sent away to work for
another lovely lady, Sylvia, in the distant land of Milan (which is a real
place in Italy, but for some strange reason the entire cast insisted on
pronouncing as Milin). Valentine pines ever long for his mistress Sylvia, who
thankfully returns his love. Long story short, Proteus ends up in Milan where
he too falls for Sylvia. He spills the beans to Sylvia's dad that she's
plotting to run away with Valentine, basically stabbing his best friend in the
back in hopes of hooking up with his girl. A real stand up guy, let me tell
you.
And it wouldn't be Shakespeare without a little cross dressing in
character, not just the reverse casting kind. Julia, longing for her love back
in Verona, leaves her home in search of the fair Proteus. She dons the clothes
of a page boy and sets off to find her true love. What she finds is a snake,
writing letters to Sylvia when he should've been writing to her! Oh, woe is
everyone. Valentine has been banished, Julia is depressed about her unfaithful
love, and Sylvia is planning to sneak out in the night, leaving her father high
and dry without his sweet daughter.
Well, this is where the pirates come in, the disguised Julia and lying Proteus
are discovered. Valentine and Sylvia are reunited and they all live happily
ever after...sort of. Happily enough. It's a quick switch when Proteus decides
that he's back to loving Julia the minute he sees her, but that's the
centuries-old script's work, not the production.
So, what of the actors? Rachael Hip-Flores, who played Valentine, had such an
outstanding command of the difficult language of the play, you'd think she was
plucked right out of Elizabethan England and plopped down in the heart of New
York City. She was the most believable girl-playing-a-guy in the cast, giving
her man a kind of saunter, rather than harshness. Everything about her
performance was spot on. The same can be said for her lover, Sylvia, played by
Hunter Gilmore. The most impressive thing about him was his ability to shine
through the beard on his face and still act soft and feminine. He was not girly
in the way that comes off when a guy often cross-dresses as a girl. There was
nothing, excuse my lack of a better phrase, "gay" about his
performance, or really any of the men playing girls in the production. Alvin
Chan was another stand out. He, too, had excellent oratorical skills, the words
seems to merely fall from his lips as though they were coming to mind exactly
as he said them.
Being an avid Shakespeare lover, I'm always pleased to find a company of
performers that can make the words sound so believable, especially when they're
in swapped gender roles. Brava to the four leads for doing that with ease.
Valentine and Sylvia's love scenes were a thing of beauty. I felt like I was
some how privy to the most intimate moment between lovers, when all they did
was look at one another. The tender gazes given to Rachel Hip-Flores by Hunter
Gilmore were breath-taking, and likewise from her to him. I couldn't get enough
of those two.
Of course, like any production, with ups come a few downs. The ensemble was
good, but not as fantastic as the four leads. My biggest problem was with
Antonio, Proteus' father, played by Natasha Yannacanedo and her inability to
hold onto her accent. She began sounding vaguely Brooklynish, switched to
British to match her comrade in the scene, and then back here to Brooklyn.
Which was it supposed to be? Not sure. The other characters were fine and all,
but other than Alexandra Devin who played Lance and Candide (the Dog), they're
hardly worth mentioning in detail.
I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at their ability to move half a dozen
blocks around the stage in so many different ways to make scenes. They moved
the blocks, they stacked the blocks, they added things to the blocks, and you
know what? It worked! In fact, it was great. They made memorable scenes, so
much that when they'd move them a certain way, I started to say to myself,
"Oh yes, Julia's room" or "This is definitely Mantua again"
before any words were even spoken to tell me that. I loved it. The costumes
were minimal, but it didn't take away from the show. They had some really neat
pieces at the back of the set which are difficult to describe, but really added
to the ambiance of the place. They had two sides and were twisted to show in
doors and outdoors. I thought they made excellent use of the space and props
they were working with.
In short, I love love loved Valentine and Sylvia; they were phenomenal. The set
and the dog were scene stealers. Julia was a joy to watch and the ensemble
worked well. Nothing extra was really brought to the meaning of the play by
switching genders, but it was a nice adaptation of the show. If you're looking
for a night of Shakespeare where the actors actually sound like they know what
they're doing (shocking, I know) this is definitely not to be missed. I can't
wait to see another Judith Shakespeare Company production.
Click here to buy group tickets.
