Murphys Creek season off to auspicious start

By Brian McCoy
Record Entertainment Editor
Published Tuesday, June 22, 2004 

"Two Gentlemen of Verona, Ga." That's what founder-director Graham Scott Green is offering audiences to kick off his Murphys Creek Theatre's 10th anniversary season. It's the Bard with a drawl delivered under the stars at the Stevenot Winery Amphitheatre outside Murphys. 

That this Southern-set "Two Gentlemen of Verona" is a thorough success -- warm and thoughtful, witty and occasionally dramatic -- is a credit to both the source material and the company Green manages to assemble each summer. 

One of Shakespeare's earliest works -- it's wedged chronologically between "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Love's Labours Lost" -- "Two Gentlemen of Verona" carries many of the hallmarks of his subsequent comedies, including momentarily star-crossed lovers, women disguised as men, and a band of exiles roaming the woods. But, as Green's director's note points out, there is more to the script than just smiles on a summer's night. 

There is true malice, not just mischief, in the break between friends Proteus (Jeremy Forbing) and Valentine (Todd Thomas). Likewise, the women in question, Julia (Tara Kayton) and Sylvia (Kristen Mager), experience palpable anguish over their lovers' inconstancy. There's plenty of humor in "Verona," to be sure, but the laughs are nearly matched by the angst. Perhaps it is precisely that balance -- and how it mirrors the mix in our own lives -- that makes Shakespeare's works so malleable in terms of time and setting. Certainly, the potential for disaster is strong in a Southern-fried "Two Gentlemen of Verona," but between the genius of Shakespeare's script and Murphys Creek's knowledge of and respect for it, the accents and petticoats merely serve as spice, enhancing the original's flavor rather than obliterating it. 

As for plot, it can best be described as Shakespeare boilerplate. Valentine is about to depart Verona for Milan but cannot convince Proteus to join him. His friend, it seems, is loathe to leave his beloved Julia; Valentine, who scorns love, is aghast to see his pal so smitten. At his father's command, Proteus does eventually make the trip. Upon arriving in Milan, he is startled to discover that his friend has fallen in love with the prince's sister, Sylvia. So does Proteus the moment he sets eyes on her; he forsakes Julia and schemes against Valentine in the hope of winning Sylvia. Amid these intrigues, Julia arrives disguised as a page. 

Comprised of talent from the foothills, Central Valley and the Bay Area, the Murphys Creek cast handles this material with aplomb, although with the occasional bit of rushed dialogue or garbled diction. Among the leads, Forbing makes a particularly strong impression, bringing depth to both Proteus' pining for Julia and the darker scheming that comes to dominate his character. Forbing also seems to wear the show's Southern setting the best -- with his accent, dark clothes and full beard, he resembles a Woodstock-era Levon Helm. 

On balance, however, it is the comic bits that distinguish "Two Gentlemen of Verona." Both men have, if not smart, then smart-alecky, servants, Launce (Davey Wagner) and Speed (Tom Vanucci). These roles are simply gems, and both men excel in balancing the wit and wisdom in their lines. Misty Day completed the comic trio with her turn as the tart-tongued Lucetta, Julia's maid. She also designed the set, an evocative series of archways that well serves the show's comings and goings. 

That Murphys Creek has produced a tasteful Southern-set "Two Gentlemen of Verona" bodes well for the rest of the summer. The company's second show -- an equally potentially gimmicky "Midsummer Night's Dream" set in 1968 San Francisco -- opens Thursday.