Two Gentlemen of Verona: William ShakespeareRSC @ The Other Place, Stratford Upon AvonRuns, until Sunday 31 August 2025. AD performance 26 August 2025, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: Rod Dungate.
Photo Credit: Helen Murray.
Two Gentlemen of Verona: William Shakespeare
RSC @ The Other Place, Stratford Upon Avon
Runs: 80 Minutes, no interval, till Sunday 31 August 2025
AD performance 26 August 2025,
4☆☆☆☆. Review: Rod Dungate.
“A real summer treat.”
This scaled down Two Gents is an RSC family offering; it’s boisterous, humorous, and packs a modern punch. A shiny little jewel for the Shakespeare novice and returner.
The story of two lovers, Valentine and Proteus, good friends to start with, loving two women Siliva and Julia standard stuff. But Shakespeare gets going with his plotting. Proteus does the real dirty on Valantine when he falls for Valentine’s girl. Letters, rings, cord ladders all sustain the unlikely plot. But we are given little time to find fault, but then, why would we want to? We discover the adolescent in ourselves.
The lovers (Jonny Khan, Lance West, Aisha Goodman & Sian Stephens) are cast young. Their youthful energy is infectious; contemporary touches enliven it all. The four are a terrific team and we are genuinely pleased when it all works out well at the end.
The production is not nuancedly sleek; it feels instant and this dovetails with the youthful feel.
There is, of course, one other team; Launce and his dog, Crab. Lossi (Crab) is a star; she creates the right distance from Launce but creates an iron bond with us. Stu McLaughlin (Launce) disregards the adage ‘Never work with animals’ and takes up the challenge. He is brilliantly funny. I do hope we see him again at some time.
The Other Place is transformed into an in-the-round theatre space for this production. This increases the production’s warm feeling. Francis O’Connor’s design is marvellous, with a great cage suspended above the acting space, a physical representation of Sylvia’s imprisonment.
Joanna Bowman directs. Pacy, yet not losing touch with the original. This production follows on from last year’s As You Like It; do we have another in store next year?
Cast
Valentine – Jonny Khan
Proteus – Lance West
Speed/Thurio – Tom Babbage
Launce/Outlaw/Sir Eglamour – Stu McLoughlin
Crab – Lossi
Antonio/Lucetta/Musician/Outlaw – Katherine Toy
Julia – Aisha Goodman
Sylvia – Sian Stephens
Duke of Milan/Outlaw – Derrell Brockis
Outlaw – Fred Double
Creatives
Director – Joanna Bowman
Sets & Costumes – Francis O’Connor
Lighting – Derek Anderson
Composer – John Patrick Elliott
Audio Describers – Julia Grundy/Caroliyn Smith