Shakespeare is the most widely quoted, but perhaps also the most widely misunderstood, writer in the English language. Because his language seems archaic to the modern ear, and perhaps because Hamlet is what gets taught in high schools, the typical American thinks of Shakespeare as a brooding intellectual. In popular culture he has acquired an air of pretension, his name pronounced with an exaggerated British accent and a glass of brandy held aloft at one side. But to those who know him well, there is no writer more humane, more accessible, more active, more vulgar - and I mean that in the absolute best way.
I wish anyone who soured on Shakespeare after being forced to memorize “to be or not to be” as a 16-year old could have watched this week’s performance of Two Gentlemen of Verona by the Taffety Punk Theatre Company. Because this production was absolutely irresistible. Everything that Shakespeare should be.
This show was the latest entry in Taffety Punk’s annual (I think?) “bootleg” series. These bootleg performances are little rehearsed and sparsely furnished - sets were minimal, and actors occasionally called for lines. This was a small price to pay for two great advantages - first, that the actors rendered their parts with a delight and openness to new possibility not yet trampled by an extended run of rehearsals and shows; and second, that the performance was free. I showed up at 6 pm, when the tickets were to be released, but it turned out they had already given them all away since people had started lining up at 3. I ended up lucking into a seat that had been reserved for some member of the press who didn’t show up. Since sat in a press seat, I’m continuing the gag with a review from this here dime-height soapbox.
Two Gents is a comedy, and this production lets you enjoy it. I saw a production of the same play at DC’s Shakespeare Theater Company a couple of years ago which cast the two gentleman lovers of the title as moody ‘90s grunge types. This interpretation sapped the script of its energy. Taffety avoided this mistake, with Dan Crane and Shawn Fagan’s enthusiastic Valentino and Proteus, respectively. The plot follows these two idiot suitors as they bumble and stumble their way into the arms of their lovers, Sylvia (played by Tonya Beckman) for Valentino and Julia (Kimberly Gilbert) for Proteus.
The script is full of puns and slapstick comedy, and this troupe hammed these up with abandon. There’s an early scene where Sylvia flirts with Valentino, who is too thick to understand that she is telling him she likes him. There follows a long dialogue between Valentino and his servant Speed (played admirably by Esther Williamson). In the hands of shy actors, this scene would be impossibly dumb. But Williamson and Crane turned it into a riot, earning a huge payoff from the crowd when Valentino finally understand’s Sylvia’s meaning.
But the show was nearly stolen by Ashley Strand as Thurio, a wealthy suitor to Sylvia, favored by her father, but spurned by Sylvia. Strand played the role as a new money, heavily accented Russian in a velvet track suit and gold chains. This bit reached its sublimest moment with Strand coming out to sunbathe in a mesh speedo, preparing himself with a dousing from a can of Axe Body Spray, which he then stuffed into his crotch for storage.
Dick and fart jokes do not cheapen Shakespeare’s script. Often, they are in Shakespeare’s script. Of course, there’s much more as well. But if you see the right production, it’s all accessible. It only takes one great show to get you hooked on Shakespeare, and Taffety’s production of Two Gents was one such gateway drug. I doubt anyone in the audience this past Monday will fail to see more Shakespeare, and, I hope also, more Taffety Punk.
