I really need your help on this one. I reckon I've seen this play less often than the supposedly rare Titus Andronicus and few productions have branded themselves on my memory. I recall Peter Hall opening his first season at Stratford in 1960 with a decorative production distinguished by only two things: Eric Porter as a bustling Duke and Patrick Wymark as Launce looking askance at his dog, Crab, and saying "When didst thou see me heave up my leg and make water against a woman's farthingale?" In fact, in any production, it's the dog that nearly always runs off with the show.
In theory, this is a fascinating early play about male rivalry and female ardour, with Julia disguising herself as a boy in order to get her man. But directors are often tempted to do gussied-up productions. I missed a Robin Phillips revival (1970) set around a campus swimming-pool and wasn't crazy about a David Thacker production (1992) that filled out the show with Cole Porter tunes. I do have pleasant memories of an Open Air theatre, Regent's Park version, in which the foosteps of Bernard Bresslaw's Launce were notably dogged, and of an RSC touring production by Fiona Buffini (2004) which I saw in an Ebbw Vale community centre. But perhaps the best version I've seen was one directed by Jack Shepherd which launched Shakespeare's Globe in 1996. In that new space, on a warm moonlit night, this early comedy suddenly took off. But have I somewhere missed a truly great production?
• What are your favourite versions of The Two Gentlemen of Verona? Let us know in the comments thread below
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