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Authors: William Shakespeare
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production as “spoken so that it was hardly noticed; Proteus’ repentance was a sentiment to laugh at.” 43
Robin Phillips’ production (with Ian Richardson as Proteus and Peter Egan as Valentine) attempted to suggest plausible psychological reasons for Proteus’ conduct:
As Ian Richardson plays him, it is clear that his shortness compared both to Valentine and Thurio, whose lithe beachboy figurehe enviously paws, is a source of lack of confidence. His double-dealing of both men is therefore motivated here not so much by the requirements of a plot borrowed from literary sources but by the spiteful jealousy of a confused adolescent. Thus when this friend and lover with all his hang-ups is paid the ultimate compliment of being offered his best friend’s mistress at the close of play, this previously unplayable scene can be said to offer some meaning in the light of current recherché theories of displaced homosexuality. 44
Helen Mirren’s Julia, “a blonde-wigged tigress,” 45 drew considerable critical comment (mostly favorable): “Helen Mirren … brings the only emotional force to the evening. Her acting shows extraordinary truth and strength.” 46 There was praise also for minor roles: “Sebastian Shaw’s wonderfully funny Scoutmaster Sir Eglamour is as solemn in realisation as it is comic in conception. Clement McCallin has made the Duke laughable by giving a straight performance and a very good one, of a figure who simply doesn’t belong in those surroundings.” 47 Harold Hobson concluded that the production,
By way of beachwear and the Lido … reaches the heart of Shakespeare’s play—the rapture of its youth and the darkness of its treachery—and finds it beating fresh and strong. It treats with masterly nonchalance the more absurd parts of the story, but where the verse is great, it is greatly spoken. Whether grave or playful, Mr Phillips’ touch is unfaltering, to the play’s essence totally loyal. 48
John Barton’s production had its own version of “twoness” playing in a double bill with
Titus Andronicus
. Patrick Stewart (Lance in the 1970
Two Gents
, see below) played Titus and Sheila Hancock, Tamora. As the leads in the earlier play, it was they who, despite taking minor roles in
Two Gents
, claimed most critical attention. Stewart played Sir Eglamour and Sheila Hancock the leader of the Outlaws:
After the interval, she [Hancock] bounded cheerfully forward to announce
Two Gentlemen
. The sheer contrast with
Titus
was bound to emphasize its humorous potential, but in addition the scenes involving Eglamour and the Outlaws were able to make humorous allusions to the treatment of
Titus
earlier on. The Outlaws were without question the funniest I have ever seen, appearing in Lincoln green hoods among the prop trees from the
Titus
forest accompanied by twittering birdsong. There were nine of them and the lines were redistributed so that the actor of Aaron [Hugh Quarshie] could call abduction and murder “petty crimes,” and so that Sheila Hancock could give an astonishing performance as their leader: it was she who had stabbed a gentleman “in my mood”; she immediately fell for Valentine, praising him as “a
linguist
!” in tones of rapt admiration, and later telling Silvia with evident disappointment that Valentine would “not use a woman lawlessly.” She was also armed with a blunderbuss which suddenly went off, provoking an explosion of squawking from a host of “offstage” birds. The actors themselves could hardly keep straight faces after this, entirely pardonably: it was an irresistible climax to a marvellously funny scene, perfectly appropriate to Shakespeare’s burlesque of Robin Hood outlaws. The treatment of Sir Eglamour was even more appropriate. Patrick Stewart’s armour and gentlemanly manner recalled his Titus; with his lance, fluttering pennant, and hobby-horse he was the perfect image of an ageing knight errant, a White Knight or Don Quixote; in the
Robin Phillips’ production (with Ian Richardson as Proteus and Peter Egan as Valentine) attempted to suggest plausible psychological reasons for Proteus’ conduct:
As Ian Richardson plays him, it is clear that his shortness compared both to Valentine and Thurio, whose lithe beachboy figurehe enviously paws, is a source of lack of confidence. His double-dealing of both men is therefore motivated here not so much by the requirements of a plot borrowed from literary sources but by the spiteful jealousy of a confused adolescent. Thus when this friend and lover with all his hang-ups is paid the ultimate compliment of being offered his best friend’s mistress at the close of play, this previously unplayable scene can be said to offer some meaning in the light of current recherché theories of displaced homosexuality. 44
Helen Mirren’s Julia, “a blonde-wigged tigress,” 45 drew considerable critical comment (mostly favorable): “Helen Mirren … brings the only emotional force to the evening. Her acting shows extraordinary truth and strength.” 46 There was praise also for minor roles: “Sebastian Shaw’s wonderfully funny Scoutmaster Sir Eglamour is as solemn in realisation as it is comic in conception. Clement McCallin has made the Duke laughable by giving a straight performance and a very good one, of a figure who simply doesn’t belong in those surroundings.” 47 Harold Hobson concluded that the production,
By way of beachwear and the Lido … reaches the heart of Shakespeare’s play—the rapture of its youth and the darkness of its treachery—and finds it beating fresh and strong. It treats with masterly nonchalance the more absurd parts of the story, but where the verse is great, it is greatly spoken. Whether grave or playful, Mr Phillips’ touch is unfaltering, to the play’s essence totally loyal. 48
John Barton’s production had its own version of “twoness” playing in a double bill with
Titus Andronicus
. Patrick Stewart (Lance in the 1970
Two Gents
, see below) played Titus and Sheila Hancock, Tamora. As the leads in the earlier play, it was they who, despite taking minor roles in
Two Gents
, claimed most critical attention. Stewart played Sir Eglamour and Sheila Hancock the leader of the Outlaws:
After the interval, she [Hancock] bounded cheerfully forward to announce
Two Gentlemen
. The sheer contrast with
Titus
was bound to emphasize its humorous potential, but in addition the scenes involving Eglamour and the Outlaws were able to make humorous allusions to the treatment of
Titus
earlier on. The Outlaws were without question the funniest I have ever seen, appearing in Lincoln green hoods among the prop trees from the
Titus
forest accompanied by twittering birdsong. There were nine of them and the lines were redistributed so that the actor of Aaron [Hugh Quarshie] could call abduction and murder “petty crimes,” and so that Sheila Hancock could give an astonishing performance as their leader: it was she who had stabbed a gentleman “in my mood”; she immediately fell for Valentine, praising him as “a
linguist
!” in tones of rapt admiration, and later telling Silvia with evident disappointment that Valentine would “not use a woman lawlessly.” She was also armed with a blunderbuss which suddenly went off, provoking an explosion of squawking from a host of “offstage” birds. The actors themselves could hardly keep straight faces after this, entirely pardonably: it was an irresistible climax to a marvellously funny scene, perfectly appropriate to Shakespeare’s burlesque of Robin Hood outlaws. The treatment of Sir Eglamour was even more appropriate. Patrick Stewart’s armour and gentlemanly manner recalled his Titus; with his lance, fluttering pennant, and hobby-horse he was the perfect image of an ageing knight errant, a White Knight or Don Quixote; in the
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