Two Gentlemen of Verona (Bristol – tour)

It’s tempting, only a little fancifully, to suggest that any decent company can put on a first-rate Richard III, but it takes a company of real talent to put on a brilliant production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which is what Bristol’s Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory has given us. Andrew Hilton’s characteristically clear and pacy production of Shakespeare’s first play is a delight from its opening exchanges to its final gesture and leaves one wondering only why this wise and witty comedy is not performed more often.

The setting is Italy in the early years of the 20th century. Two friends are parting: Valentine is off to Milan to see some of the world; Proteus wishes to remain in Verona where he has recently fallen in love with Julia. After Proteus and Julia exchange rings Proteus travels to Milan to meet Valentine who has fallen in love with Silvia. Proteus’ feelings are transformed.

Central to the evening’s pleasure are two superb performances. Piers Wehner’s Proteus captures the charms of the bantering friend and the devoted young suitor and the confusion and torments of the false friend and lover: we are simultaneously repelled and moved by him. Dorothea Myer-Bennett’s Julia is an immediately appealing presence, charming, self-aware and resourceful. She plays the comedy of the letter scene and her own transformation into a page beautifully. The rest of the cast is, as always with this company, uniformly excellent. The duologue between Jack Bannell’s Valentine and Peter Clifford’s Duke of Milan after the latter discovers the former’s plot is a masterpiece of comic timing. Lisa Kay’s Silvia embodies female steadfastness, good sense and solidarity in the face of male inconstancy and treachery. Marc Geoffrey and Chris Donnelly are outstanding as the servants, making the humour fresh and natural without ever overdoing it. Paul Currier’s preening Lord Turio is a vivid comic grotesque. And, of course, Lollio’s Crab nearly steals the show.

Hilton makes good use of the in-the-round staging; the momentum never flags. The control of mood is masterful from the lightness and romance of the first half to the darker notes of the second. The music and singing are lovely and add to the atmosphere. Harriet de Winton’s design and Matthew Graham’s lighting are as effective as ever and I can’t have been the only male spectator coveting those gorgeous linen suits straight out of Chekhov. There have been a few textual additions and tweakings, but what comes through is Shakespeare’s understanding of the human heart and its motives, his command of metaphor and paradox and his early interest in themes and ideas that would inform his comic writing for the next two decades. After a month in Bristol the production is touring to Lancaster, Cheltenham, Scarborough, Exeter and Winchester. I urge you to go: it’ll be a long time before we see another production of the play as good as this.