APT’s Two ‘Gentlemen’ of Verona plays like a teen drama

Lindsay Christians, The Cap Times

In a box in my basement lives a decade’s worth of diaries too intimate to be tossed, too embarrassing to be opened.

After lights out, I’d sneak over to a nightlight to chronicle my frustrations with mom’s rules (she was so unfair) and my conviction that, if the guy I liked would just pay attention, he’d realize we were destined to be together. (The later knowledge that my mother was reading these journals still makes me cringe.)

This summer, playwright Aaron Posner uses the dramatic tunnel vision of our teen years as a frame for Shakespeare’s tricky first comedy. “The Two ‘Gentlemen’ of Verona,” running in the Hill Theatre at American Players Theatre through Oct. 3, captures the impulsivity of being young and in love.

“Two Gents” can be a tough sell for an audience today. For one, we’re not so quick to forgive anyone who tries to force themselves on a woman, even if everyone else onstage wants to let it go. When APT last produced the play in 2013, I wrote that “it may be better to be a dog than a bride” when grooms behave like this.

Posner sees these flaws and responds with deliberate revision. He cuts the worst of the worst. He moves lines around, gives Julia a mean right hook and brings in the audience. (On opening night, Gov. Tony Evers had a cameo from the front row).

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