The Two Gentlemen of Verona

Arkangel Shakespeare

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Michael Maloney, Damian Lewis, Saskia Wickham, Lucy Robinson, John Woodvine

Proteus loves Julia in Verona, Valentine loves Silvia in Milan. But when Proteus meets Silvia, he falls for her too, and the heartbroken Julia sets out in pursuit.

This delightful and sometimes disquieting early comedy of love lost and found offers lyrical poetry, disguise, clowning, outlaws, and a most unreliable dog.

Proteus is played by Michael Maloney and Valentine by Damian Lewis. Silvia is Saskia Wickham, Julia is Lucy Robinson, and John Woodvine plays Launce.

Public Domain (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

Shakespeare in a jazz lounge

Such a silly fun story, and the disconnect of jazz music was odd but entertaining. The fact that the music choice makes the opening scene feel like it takes place in a jazz lounge made me chuckle. Very talented voice actors!

For truth hath better deeds than words to grace it

"That man that hath a tongue, I say is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act III, Scene I

The first play in my 2017 First Folio journey is 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona'. The Bard is often held up as a genius when writing about human nature. This, his first play, has its moments and certainly its characters, but the ending especially shows that Shakespeare's brilliance came line-upon-line and not all at once. The ending seemed too much like a clip-on bow tie: too balanced, too perfect, too forgiving, too fake. It didn't ring true.

That said, the play isn't a complete disaster. This comedy of love did provide us with a cross-dressing Julia (Shakespeare will return to this), and servants that are often wiser than their masters. Speed and Launce were especially nice characters.

There were also several nice lines, specifically:

- "Fire that's closest kept burns most of all."
- "Till I have found each letter in the letter."
- "To her whose worth makes other worthies nothing."
- "Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,
As thou has lent me wit to pot this drift."

Love everything about this audio book!

The narrators were brilliant. Very well done. This is my first Shakespeare audio book, I'm very familiar with his work, and I cannot recommend this audio version highly enough. I'm ready to listen to it again I loved it so much!

This is well done

None are so blind as those who think they are in love when they are only the fools of Eros. Shakespeare helps all find true love in this delightful comedy. . . the play is well acted and the direction keeps the lines moving and the comedy flowing. I do miss seeing the dog.

Bad music choice

The upbeat jazz played between and during scenes didn't match the play's action or feeling.

Friendship and Fidelity

I listened to the Arkangel Audio while reading Delphi Complete Works of William Shakespeare E-Book. The music from the audio quite threw me off a bit as it was more geared to a piano bar than a rendition of the play from the 16th - 17th century, director's prerogative no doubt, but I adjusted. In this play, which is considered a comedy, the main theme is friendship and fidelity. Add a character who is rather entertaining with a dog (replete with panting in the background) and we have a very entertaining and enjoyable work.

Great but for two faults

The pronunciation of Milan was odd. And I suppose jazz helps to improve the play for modern audiences. It would otherwise be old and boring?

Chapter divisions & headings

Rather than a division into chapters, a division based on the scenes of the play would have been much more user/listener friendly...

Also would have been very helpful to have the act and scene numbers - rather than the chapter number - appear in the banner heading....

The terrible choice of music

Was this recorded in a 1950s lounge? Surely much better music is available. Something from Shakespeare’s era?

Prentice work

It's been a major treat finally having the Arkangel Shakespeare available on Audible - almost as good as finally getting the Beatles on iTunes. This remarkable series of recordings includes every play Shakespeare wrote, in a full-court-press audio production with sound effects and an original score. The series is 10-15 years old at this point, but it holds up magnificently.

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" is not one of Shakespeare's best. My own private theory is that it was his first play, written before he even left Stratford. Most of the scenes involve only two people; the famous (or infamous) last scene leaves one character, Sylvia, mute for the last 10 minutes. The turning point of the play is completely unbelievable. The puns, some of them tedious to begin with, go on forever, and there's a surprising carelessness about place names. It's definitely prentice work.

On the other hand, the play has the servant Launce and his dog Crab. Launce is played here by the brilliant John Woodvine: if you're old enough, you may remember him as the evil uncle from the sprawling stage production of "Nicholas Nickleby." Launce is dumb as a post, but not so dumb that he can't see that his master, Proteus, is a scoundrel. Proteus is played by Michael Maloney (who did a brilliant turn as the Dauphin in Branagh's "Henry V"); he tries to betray the love interest of his best friend, Valentine, played by Damian Lewis (quite a change from his more recent incarnation on "Homeland"). In fact, one of the pleasures to be had from the series is recognizing the voices of actors who are better-known in other contexts.

The music for all of the Arkangel productions is composed by Dominique Le Gendre. The score sounds like the kind of jazzy, smoky music you'd hear in the background at a candlelit dinner. Usually it works, but the one criticism I have of the production is that his version of "Who is Sylvia?" misses the mark, with an overly complex melody that doesn't quite fit the pace of the lyrics. It's a rare misstep in the series.

If you're going for the Shakespeare highlights, you can give this one a pass. But if you're determined to do the whole canon, it's well worth your while: if nothing else, there's always Crab.