Page "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" Paragraph 70

During the twentieth century, the play has been produced sporadically, often with little success, in the English-speaking world ; although it has proved more popular in Europe.

Indeed, there have been only a handful of major English speaking productions worth noting.

Little is known, for example, about Harley Granville-Barker's 1904 production at the Royal Court Theatre, F. R.

Benson's at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1910, Robert Atkins ' 1926 production at the Apollo Theatre, starring John Gielgud, or Ben Iden Payne's 1938 production at Stratford-upon-Avon.

Indeed, most critics now agree that the first major 20th century production didn't take place until 1957, at The Old Vic, directed by Michael Langham and starring Richard Gale as Valentine, Keith Michell as Proteus, Barbara Jefford as Julia and Ingrid Hafner as Silvia.

In this production, set in late nineteenth century Italy and grounded very much in high Romanticism, Proteus threatens to kill himself with a pistol at the end of the play, prompting Valentine's hasty offer of Silvia.