#bootleg2015

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.