STAGE REVIEW : An Accessible ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’

Too often Shakespeare American style simply means mangled scansion, but the California Shakespeare Festival’s Southland tour of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” proves literate and accessible, rendered with a vitality that draws as much from the spirit of vaudeville as from classical theater.

The mid-19th-Century resetting lends both a Byronic and ironic backdrop to the unfortunate consequences when “by love is wit turned to folly.” All four young leads are convincing portraits of headstrong passion--most notably Morgan Strickland’s Proteus, who because of love bestowed and withdrawn on the basis of appearances is driven to betray his best friend and his betrothed. The transition to a mature emotional perspective is agony for the youths, but a delight for us.

Penny Metropulos’ intelligent staging keeps the conflicts in focus and even improves on some of the murkier points in what is considered one of the Bard’s least coherent works. Gone is plucky Julia’s (Stacy Ross) uncharacteristic swoon in the denouement, and the play’s final two lines of healing are transferred to Silvia (Susan Patterson), who otherwise is silent after Proteus’ attempted rape.

But no inventiveness here makes credible Valentine’s (Jay Karnes) bizarre offer to surrender his beloved Silvia to Proteus despite his friend’s unpleasant behavior.

Instead, we race through this incongruous exchange as if it were polite formalism, with minimal detriment to the resolution.

It’s a production with universal appeal. Take it from the student who at intermission said, in perfect Valley-speak, “I think I’m like changing my mind about Shakespeare.”

“Two Gentlemen of Verona,” California Shakespeare Festival. Wednesday, 8 p.m.: UC Riverside, (714) 787-4331; $17. Thursday-Friday, 8 p.m.: Norris Theatre, Crossfield Drive and Indian Peak Road, Palos Verdes, (310) 544-0403; $27.50. Saturday, 8 p.m.: Beckman Auditorium, Caltech, Michigan Avenue south of Del Mar Boulevard, Pasadena, (800) 423-8849, (818) 356-4652, TDD (818) 356-4688; $20-$25. Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m.: Victor Valley College, 18422 Bear Valley Road, Victorville, (619) 245-4271, Ext. 454; $14. Ends Oct. 23. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.