"The Two Gentleman of Verona" is one of Shakespeare's much better comedies, full of the kind of witty wordplay and lively characters that frequently appear in them.
The plot is essentially simple: Proteus (Tyler Butterworth) is in love with Julia (Tessa Peak-Jones) and Valentine (John Hudson) is in love with Silvia (Joanne Pearce). Complications arise, however, when Proteus falls in love with Julia...
There are some good performances here from everyone involved. Butterworth and Hudson are great fun as the two leads, and handle the play's darker elements very well. The portrayal of the two servants Speed and Launce (Nicholas Kaby and Tony Haygarth respectively) are also spot-on, although the latter does tend to confirm Shakespeare's generally patronising attitude in his plays towards the working classes. David Collings as brilliant as ever as irksome fop Thurio.
The theatricality in the production (with a scene in a forest not shot on location but quite evidently in a studio) actually serves the comical story much better than realism.
A good one to get warmed up on Shakespeare.
The plot is essentially simple: Proteus (Tyler Butterworth) is in love with Julia (Tessa Peak-Jones) and Valentine (John Hudson) is in love with Silvia (Joanne Pearce). Complications arise, however, when Proteus falls in love with Julia...
There are some good performances here from everyone involved. Butterworth and Hudson are great fun as the two leads, and handle the play's darker elements very well. The portrayal of the two servants Speed and Launce (Nicholas Kaby and Tony Haygarth respectively) are also spot-on, although the latter does tend to confirm Shakespeare's generally patronising attitude in his plays towards the working classes. David Collings as brilliant as ever as irksome fop Thurio.
The theatricality in the production (with a scene in a forest not shot on location but quite evidently in a studio) actually serves the comical story much better than realism.
A good one to get warmed up on Shakespeare.