| Sex, Shakespeare and rock 'n' roll ruled the night at Lake Eola Park Along with a huge helping of laughter and good fun. The Two Gentlemen of Verona boogied onto the lakefront stage Friday with such merriment that anyone who didn't leave the performance laughing had to be made of stone. Two Gentlemen is the second offering of the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, playing in repertory with Julius Caesar. Purists may mutter and grumble about layering on elements that the Bard could never have imagined. But in the case of Two Gentlemen, the overlay of '50s high jinks and humorous visual and verbal puns has been done with such affection that it never obscures the language. Director Jim Helsinger cited youth and innocence as his reasons for setting this comedy in the '50s. Helsinger has chosen, and directed, brilliantly. Two Gentlemen is a love story, but it is also a tale of friendship, loyalty, deceit and betrayal, and of youth, when these emotions ride so close to the surface. Before the play begins, the audience is encouraged to relax, laugh and enjoy. Hula hoops, sing-alongs, gum-chewing and bubble-blowing contests keep the crowd amused. And then Jay T. Becker, as your host, Bardman Bill, a Wolfman Jack-style disc jockey, starts with | the puns and patter as he spins the platters that back up the action on stage. His puns are sometimes witty, sometimes groaners, but always clever and always rooted in Shakespeare. ''Whether to play the B side or the B side, that is the question.'' Julia, the sweet girlfriend of Proteus, is portrayed wonderfully by Suzanne O'Donnell. Her Julia is the perfect willful teen-age girl, a perky combination of every young woman who played the spoiled-silly young things in '50s movies and television. Her opening scene with Catherine Stork, who plays Lucetta, her maid, is delightful as they argue over a letter from Proteus. Stork's Lucetta is a sharp-tongued version of Alice from the Brady Bunch. Eric Hissom is Proteus, the boy who betrays Julia out of lust for another woman. Hissom is particularly good when rationalizing his betrayal. Kelly Collins Lintz is adorable as Silvia, a blond beauty, who has the city of Milan drooling over her. Mark Rector's Valentine is a delight, whether he is proclaiming the glories of love or singing down-and- dirty blues as the king of a motorcycle gang. Richard Width is over-the-top funny as Thurio, the upper-crust, preppy suitor to Sylvia. But the evening was undoubtedly stolen by the servants, Launce and Speed, played by Mark Brown and Tom Paitson Kelly, respectively. The pair's outrageous scenes, together and separately, were the highlight of a very funny show. |
