In Tom Stoppard’s screenplay for Shakespeare in Love, the young playwright receives some theatrical advice: “Love and a bit with a dog – that’s what they want.” And in Two Gentlemen of Verona, that’s precisely what you get – an early play (possibly even the earliest) featuring a quartet of young lovers, a girl dressed as a boy, some episodes in a forest and an obstructive, tyrannical father. Plus a bit with a dog.
There are parts of this slightly ramshackle play that mostly seem to be about Shakespeare exploring his comedic tactics, as if you’ve bought a ticket for the qualifying round of a later competition. But it’s an unabashed crowd-pleaser and Alex Clifton’s spirited open-air production is the perfect accompaniment to a picnic.
Harry Livingstone’s Proteus and Robert Willoughby’s Valentine are a pair of demob-happy backpackers embarking on a gap-year adventure. And who wouldn’t wish to switch boring old Verona – here, a sleepy seaside town full of old ladies on mobility scooters – for metropolitan Milan, with its sophistication, Dolce & Gabbana bags and waiters with attitude?
Tayo Akinbode’s musical direction swings from Italian sass to English folk and a rousing version of the Talking Heads’ Road to Nowhere. And then there’s the scene-stealing walk-on role performed by Ruby the terrier, whose soulful eyes indicate that she’s in disgrace for “making water against a gentlewoman’s farthingale”. The crowd loved her, though it’s a sign of growing confidence in the later comedies that Shakespeare felt able to ditch the dog.
- In rep at the Grosvenor Park theatre, Chester, until 21 August. Box office: 0845 241 7868.
