(Alex Needham’s article appeared in the Guardian, 5/14.)
What is probably Shakespeare's first play is not frequently performed – it was once on an RSC list of works believed to be guaranteed to lose money – so staging it in Shona, spoken in Zimbabwe, with a cast of two seems particularly brave, at least on paper. In practice, this version, by London-based company Two Gents and first staged in 2008, is uproariously entertaining, even when the gags in Shona are busily sailing over your head, and is obviously adored by a vocal Globe audience, including a sizeable Zimbabwean contingent whose members at some points scream with glee. It's a rare and probably salutory experience for white, middle-class theatregoers to feel as if they're the only ones not in on the joke.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/may/14/the-two-gentlemen-of-verona-review