‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ cast prepares for opening night

USD’s Department of Theatre has been hard at work preparing for their upcoming production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” a Shakespeare play that is believed to have been written around 1593. The upcoming production will bring both modern and traditional elements to the show.

Allie Verry, a senior acting major, said that throwing in some modern music into the production has always been part of Shakespearean theatre and this production won’t disappoint in that regard.

“We are doing contemporary songs during intermission and before the show, as part of a tradition of Shakespearean shows,” Verry said.

Verry will be playing Silvia, the high-spirited romance of Valentine, one of the Verona gentlemen the play is named for.

“I absolutely love this show,” Verry noted. “I love Sylvia as a person — she’s loyal and spunky.”

The production, like many of USD’s productions, is a collaboration of students working together on multiple levels. The production will feature students in the role of actors, dancers, choreographer and director.

Rebecca Bailey, a third-year Masters of Fine Arts directing student and the director of “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” said the cast is firing on all cylinders to put together a good show.

“It’s a team production,” Bailey said. “There are 13 members of the cast who all stay pretty busy.”

Bailey said this production isn’t going to be the dry sort of Shakespeare that people might expect.

“(The audience), they’re going to laugh,” Bailey said. “They’re going to be able to understand it.”

Trevor Hudson, a senior acting and bachelor of fine arts major said that many of the themes of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” are themes any person can relate to. Hudson will be playing Proteus, another of the gentlemen the play is named for.

“’Two Gentlemen of Verona’ is all about searching for love and forgiveness,” Hudson said. “We are always searching for love and someone who understands us better than we understand ourselves. The same goes with forgiveness. Everyone, at some point in their life, searches for forgiveness.”

The cast list was released last May and was followed by a read-through of the script with the entire cast, Shakespearean workshops to introduce Shakespeare to the students involved and language research that students were expected to do independently over the summer. Rehearsals began Aug. 21 and have been a bit more intense as the cast prepares for opening night — scripts are sometimes thrown to the side as actors focus on their characters’ intentions and emotions.

“I think this is one of the casts that I’ve had the most fun with,” Hudson said. “A lot of us are seniors and this is a comedy, so it’s goofy. I’m up there with my friends.”

The performance will be much more enjoyable than picking up a paper copy of “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” Bailey said.

“Shakespeare isn’t something to be read on a page, it’s something to be watched on the stage,” she said. 

The play will also star Sally, a shelter dog currently living in the Siouxland Humane Society in Sioux City, in the role of a dog named Crab.

Rehearsals will continue as opening night approaches on Sept. 29. The play will be performed Sept. 29–Oct. 2 and Oct. 6-Oct. 9.

Meet Sally 

Sally is the newest start in Two Gentlemen of Verona. She is up for adoption through the Siouxland Humane Society. Video by Louisa Hansen.