The Barrow Group Theatre

Overall this play was a good play. I would definitely recommend seeing this play.

In the beginning of the play the first interesting event that caught my attention was when everyone changed their gender.  Even though it had nothing to do with the original Shakespeare play, it was really funny how everyone found an excuse to change their clothes.  It’s interesting how changing your clothes can change a person’s personality. [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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Two Gentlemen of Verona, known as the first comedic play written by Shakespeare was very well reenacted by the Judith Shakespeare Company known for their ‘signature gender-reverse casting’ thus making the play enjoyable.

Though the play seems like it could be  understood by all age groups, with nice touches like a live dog for the possible presence children and even hints of caricature humor for adults, the fact that the entire play was in Old English made it hard to keep some children’s attention- other than, well, the dog, Crab.

The play focuses in on the relationship between Valentine (played by Rachael Hip-Flores) and Proteus (played by the very active Sheila Joon).  With this, the play introduces love and relationships in the boy’s lives and we see how this strains and hurts the friendship between them, and the result it has in the end.   [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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In a black box theater, with cubes scattered and splattered with colorful paint, a woman comes out to put her costume skirt on, but then decides to put on pants and a tie.  Little by little the whole cast comes on stage, and the men put on skirts and corsets, and the women dress in male attire.

The Judith Shakespeare Company’s Two Gentlemen of Verona at the The Barrow Group Theatre had all the male roles played by women, and vice versa.  The story revolves around two young men who are best friends, and how they get mixed up falling in love with the wrong person etc., in a Midsummer Night’s Dream-esque way.  Since the characters are stereotypical to their gender, the switch added an edge to this mellow play. [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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Two Gentlemen of Verona, performed at the The Barrow Group Theatre, marks the Judith Shakespeare Company’s first full Shakespeare production in six years as well as their first gender-reversed romantic comedy.  But the company is no stranger to gender-reversed casting.  In the past, their productions of Richard the Third and The Tempest have explored non-traditional casting.   Likewise, Two Gents features women playing men and vice versa.

Two Gents masterfully fulfills the non-for-profit performance ensemble’s mission with their excellent casting alone.  By allowing women to play men, JSC successfully expands the “presence of women in classical theater.” To the same effect, the vivid stage presence brought by a gender-reversed cast enlivens “Shakespeare’s language to life with clarity and vitality,” though several critics consider the play as one of Shakespeare’s weakest works.

Luckily, JSC knows how to make do with what they’ve got.   [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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Traditional Shakespearean theatre made use of male actors for both male and female characters—The Two Gentlemen of Verona, performed by the Judith Shakespeare Company, offers a tongue-in-cheek take on the original style: cross-dressing.

While the script stays true to the original Shakespearean text, the performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona is brimming with ingenious surprises.  All men in the play don skirts and exaggerated corsets over their t-shirts, while the women are dressed in button-down shirts and ties.  Adding to the satire is the cast’s dramatic, intense line delivery and comedic use of pop culture allusions (most notably, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air handshake).  The unique versatility of the performance is both its merit and its downfall.   [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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Hundreds of times it has been said that Shakespeare is not for everyone.  And how can this not be true when the playwright’s heightened language seeps into society unaltered by time.  Hundreds have also said that Shakespearean literature is just too unrelated to today’s modern world.  I beg to differ.  It’s the times that have changed, not the audiences.  This is precisely why I highly commend the Judith Shakespeare Company‘s production of Two Gentlemen of Verona at its TBG Theatre on 36th street.  I wasn’t just treated to their rendition of the timeless classic.  I was given a fresh outlook with a gender-reversed cast, and that made my experience so much better.

Dealing with the themes of friendship and infidelity, this romantic comedy takes the show to a whole new level. [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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The Judith Shakespeare Company, founded in 1995, did a great job putting on this production of Two Gentlemen of Verona.   JSC is interested in bringing clarity and liveliness to Shakespeare’s plays while making the presence of woman known in classical theater.  Back in Shakespeare’s day, woman where not allowed in the theater, so men played the roles of woman.  Since woman could not act in the theater in those times, and now they can, why not make it so that they play the males role.  Some what of a subtle, but not so subtle, woman’s empowerment act.

The show begins. [click to continue….]

Tagged as: Cross-dressing, Judith Shakespeare Company, The Barrow Group Theatre, Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare

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