Verona Trite Yet Well-Directed

Shakespeare's play The Two Gentlemen of Verona proves that even the illustrious Bard wrote trite plays. Nevertheless, the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian Theater Workshop manages to redeem this textual mess, and director Artie Wu creates an enjoyable production.

One of Shakespeare's first comedies, The Two Gentlemen of Verona lacks both complexity and freshness. The play contains the early prototypes of what will become Shakespeare's stock characters: the blunt fool Launce (Christopher Scully), who uses crass language to express his words of wisdom; the love-sick Valentine (Andrew Sean Kuan); and the ruthless backstabbing Proteus (Alice Kim). In addition, the play is full of enough concealed identities, overheard conversations and overworked puns to make a sitcom writer groan.

The plot is predictable: Valentine travels to work for the Duke in Milan, leaving his friend Proteus, who is in love with Julia (Dawn Li), in Verona. In Milan, Valentine falls in love with the Duke's daughter Silvia (Joanna Weiss), who is engaged to the pompous Sir Thurio (Robert Ashley). Proteus is sent to Milan by his father, and he too becomes enamored of Silvia and manages to thwart Valentine's plan to marry her.

Meanwhile, Julia disguises herself as a servant boy and visits Proteus. When she discovers that Proteus is pursuing Silvia, she intervenes, telling Silvia that he has another lover in Verona. Silvia and Valentine are reunited, as are Proteus and Julia. The Two Gentlemen of Verona concludes with a standard, though convoluted, happy ending.

Wu does an excellent directing job, fully utilizing the small Quincy Cage space where the action unfolds. His use of the sides and back of the theater help clarify the confusions in the plot. For example, those scenes in which Julia watches the unsuspecting Proteus become more interesting, as well as more credible, because she is hidden from him.

Limited by the extremely small stage, Wu decides to forego a set. However, the white curtain that serves as the backdrop for most of the play becomes boring. And the forest backdrop appears too infrequently to relieve the monotony.

One benefit of a small theater is that the restricted space allows the actors' facial expressions to be seen easily. This makes the action more believable. Unfortunately, the emphasis on gestures and expressions tends to overshadow the dialogue. The lines are delivered in a rushed and awkward manner, particularly in the beginning of the play.

Modern costumes and anachronistic gestures, such as the exchange of an elaborate high-five between the Duke and Sir Thurio, heighten the dialogue's clumsiness. Although these modern touches are cute, most of the staging and delivery of the lines is traditional. Wu's decision to combine classical and modern elements rather than focus on one type of interpretation makes the dialogue appear archaic.

This production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona makes an effort to cast Asian-American actors, and six of the ten performers in the play are Asian-Americans. In any event, the interpretation does not appear to be affected by the race of the players. Wu's decision may have been calculated simply to increase the number of minority actors.

Overall, the play is strongly acted. Kim's impassioned portrayal of Proteus is outstanding--she contrasts well with Kuan's sappy, lovesick Valentine. Kim's scenes with Li are usually plausible, but the two actresses seem hesitant to display the physical affection called for in the script. Perhaps Li is too soft-spoken--she plays her character as a dreamy, mopey girl, one whose bold voyage to Milan seems incongruous. During her disclosure of the plan to reveal Proteus' duplicity, Li says, "Poor Proteus, thou hast entertained a fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs." This line does not mesh with her reserved shyness.

Weiss effectively plays both Madam Lucetta and Silvia. Her Madam Lucetta, Julia's servant, is nosy but avoids caricature. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Scully or of Ashley. Over-acting reduces both of their characters to flat stereotypes that quickly become tiresome.

The Two Gentlemen of Verona, edited by Wu to a manageable hour and one half, is saved by fine direction and an excellent cast. It is neither Shakespeare's best, funniest nor most profound play, and it is very predictable. But this production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona highlights those moments which are worth seeing.