The Royal Shakespeare Company has cast its summer 2025 production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which will be staged in The Other Place, Stratford.
A cast of actor-musicians will tell “this silly story of love, friendship and growing-up” in a new, 80-minute version which the RSC says is a “perfect introduction to Shakespeare for families”.
The cast comprises Tom Babbage (Speed, Thurio and outlaw), Darrell Brockis (The Duke and outlaw), Fred Double (outlaw), Aisha Goodman (Julia), Jonny Khan (Valentine), Stuart McLoughlin (Launce, Eglamour and outlaw), Siân Stephens (Sylvia), Katherine Toy (Antonia, Lucetta, host and outlaw) and Lance West (Proteus).
Director Joanna Bowman said, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona is an exuberant celebration of the joys, discoveries and contradictions of youth. Two Gents has it all: a love triangle, gender disguise, a forest outside the city walls where love can be declared and wrongs settled, and a band of outlaws.
“I’m thrilled by the cast we’ve discovered for this production. Perhaps Shakespeare’s first comedy, Two Gents fizzes with vitality and ambition, exploding off the page and onto the stage. Finding a company of actors to match the energy of the play has been a pleasure—a number of the company are making RSC and professional debuts, capturing a sense of the ecstasies and delights of youth that lies at the heart of the play.
“The four lovers are ridiculously talented young actors at the start of their professional lives, much like the characters in the play. Couple that with an ensemble cast of brilliantly talented actor-musos featuring some fiercely funny servants and, of course, Crab the dog and I can’t wait to get into the text. To make my RSC debut with this production, a little-known play that contains so many of the innovations that will go onto define his best-known works, is tremendously exciting.”
The creative team includes set and co-costume designer Francis O’Connor, lighting designer Derek Anderson, composer John Patrick Elliott, sound designer Khalil Madovi, movement director Jennifer Jackson, casting director Matthew Dewsbury CDG and dramaturg Zoe Cooper.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona will run in The Other Place from Monday 4 until Sunday 31 August. Press night will be Tuesday 12 August.
Meanwhile, the RSC’s Next Generation Young Company will present a reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens in The Other Place on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 August.