July 27--Oak Park Festival Theatre closes out its summer season with Shakespeare's not-so-fine bromance, "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," directed by Lavina Jadhwani.
Full disclosure: This might be my least favorite play in the Shakespearean canon. That said, Jadhwani's production does a lot of things to overcome the problems with the original. By setting the tale of the title duo in the early 1980s, Jadhwani hearkens back to the neon-colored pop and political slumber of the "morning in America" Reagan years. But I think she and her generally sturdy cast could push even further -- particularly where the women are concerned.
The gents of the title are Valentine (Michael Pogue) and Proteus (David Keohone), lifelong buds who are separated when the former departs to serve the duke of Milan (Scot West, whose power suspenders and slicked-back hair make him a dead ringer for Michael Douglas' Gordon Gekko from "Wall Street.") Proteus follows Valentine not long after, but not before promising his heart to young Julia (Vahishta Vafadari). Valentine's own mocking attitude toward love takes a beating when he sees the duke's daughter, Silvia (Sigrid Sutter), and tries to win her from her intended suitor, the callow polo-and-cardigan-clad Thurio (Tim Martin). But when Proteus himself falls in love with Silvia, the friendship gets tested. Especially, you know, when Proteus tries to rape Silvia during her flight from Milan after Valentine is banished by the duke.
It's Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" with a violent twist. (And yes, we do hear the Springfield song -- along with other early-MTV faves -- during the scene changes.) Here's the enduring problem in this play: Silvia, Valentine and Julia (who goes after Proteus disguised as a boy, fearful that he has indeed forgotten her) are quick to forgive the frankly abominable Proteus. Harold Bloom had it about right in "Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human" when he suggests that Silvia ought to repay Valentine's quick forgiveness of her would-be ravisher by whacking him "with the nearest loose chunk of wood." (Hey, after Robert Falls' game-and-plot-changing "Measure for Measure" at the Goodman a few years ago, it's not unthinkable!)
But then again, that "man, why are they together?" feeling does fit with a certain mode of 1980s filmmaking. Specifically, I'm thinking of John Hughes' "Pretty in Pink," where Molly Ringwald's Andie ditches Jon Cryer's quirky and adorable Duckie for Andrew McCarthy's Wonder-Bread-in-a-Suit known as Blane. And certainly it's not uncommon in Shakespeare for women to end up with men who really don't deserve them.
That said, Jadhwani's production needs to foreground the women more and find a way to juxtapose the shallow "hey bro, it's all good!" denouement for the gents with the fate of the women. Vafadari and Sutter both have the chops to show that, while girls just wanna have fun, they also need respect. Though Shakespeare hasn't given them as full a voice, surely there are ways to let a contemporary audience feel their discomfort at being treated so shabbily.
If you've seen "Shakespeare in Love," then you might be inclined to agree that "love -- and a bit with a dog" is what audiences want. And thankfully, Jadhwani's production features a fine pooch in Morgan, a yellow lab who plays the socially unacceptable (and thoroughly adorable) "cur" known as Crab, companion to Proteus' skateboard-riding servant, Launce (Noah Laufer). Though the love in "Two Gentlemen of Verona" feels compromised and too easily won by the far-from-gentlemanly Proteus, the bits with the dog steal the show.
Kerry Reid is a freelance critic.
ctc-arts@tribpub.com
REVIEW: The Two Gentlemen of Verona by Oak Park Festival Theatre
2.5 STARS
When: Through Aug. 22
Where: Oak Park Festival Theatre in Austin Gardens, 167 Forest Ave., Oak Park
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Tickets: $27 at 708-445-4440 or oakparkfestival.com
