‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ make their way into Clark Park

If there is a Shakespearean comedy on stage, it will probably include a little gender-bending and some cross-dressing. That’s precisely the reason director Shamus McCarty loves the idea of presenting Two Gentlemen of Verona: The Musical as this year’s Shakespeare in Clark Park production.

“Gender expression is under attack,” McCarty said, and this play, he said, emphasizes “the euphoria and joy in breaking the binary.”

The story involves two male friends, their loves, and their betrayals. Scholars believe that this is one of Shakespeare’s first plays and an early reveal of the character interplay and plot nuances that would appear frequently in later works. And yes, there is cross-dressing.

Running July 26 through July 30, the Shakespeare in Clark Park production is also a rock musical with book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare, and music by Galt MacDermot.

“Taking the classic canon stories of Shakespeare and exposing people to more modern takes on it is really exciting,” McCarty said.

Shakespeare’s works are important to theater, he said, but “for many people, the language is inaccessible, and the style is inaccessible. This gives them a way into it.”

For McCarty, who has worked in Philadelphia’s theaters for more than a decade, the production counts as a homecoming. In 2018, he played Malvolio in Twelfth Night, presented by Shakespeare in Clark Park. “I went from being a very stuffy person in robes to this dancing fool in a yellow catsuit,” he said, laughing.

“I want this to be a community event. We’ll do anything we can to tear the metaphorical walls down [between audience and actors]. We’ve already torn down the physical walls.”

Unlike traditional theater, where the actors perform on a proscenium stage to an audience seated in the dark, Shakespeare in Clark Park’s shows are out in the open in the West Philadelphia park, with action taking place around an audience seated on lawn chairs and blankets. Afterward, the actors mingle, and the magic continues.

Besides director, McCarty holds the title of the group’s guest artistic director as leadership in the company, founded in 2005, is in transition.

Soon after June 2022, when Bob Stineman took on his role as managing director, Kittson O’Neill, who had been artistic director since 2015, announced that she would be stepping down from her post that August. (She remains on the board as treasurer.)

Now the board is looking for a permanent artistic director. Meanwhile, McCarty has been producing and directing Two Gentlemen as well as handling fundraising and marketing duties.

A little more than a year into his role, Stineman has become ever more appreciative of the value of the free theater that Shakespeare in Clark Park provides to the community.

To illustrate, he tells a story about last year’s opening night of The Taming, a version of The Taming of the Shrew. A few boys, about 10 or 11 years old, were wandering through the park and came over to investigate. “They had no idea what it was,” Stineman said. “They sat on the lawn, and they stayed there for two hours just watching. [We are] letting people experience something they don’t have the opportunity to experience ordinarily.”

A more concrete proof came during a recent fundraising campaign. “The community stepped up in a big way,” he said. It came at a crucial time when grant money offered over a three-year cycle during the pandemic was running out — not just for Shakespeare in Clark Park, but for many theater organizations.

“We’re three years from COVID,” Stineman said. “We knew we were going to feel it three years from then, which is where we are now. Everyone is feeling that pressure. Now it’s more important than ever for people who want live theater to exist to step up.”

“Two Gentlemen of Verona: The Musical,” Shakespeare in Clark Park, July 26-30 at the Bowl in Clark Park, 43d Street and Chester Avenue, Phila. 215-764-5345 or shakespeareinclarkpark.org. Check with the venue for COVID-19 protocols. For information on other local events, visit inquirer.com/things-to-do-philly