THE first Shakespeare play I saw left a lasting impression on me.
Richard III at the Everyman, where the hunchback king was depicted as a skinhead and his inner-circle wore bovver boots.
I was hooked.
Charlotte Mills, Amber James and Dharmesh Patel in scene from 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona'
This was boring literature at school turned into something I could relate to.
Shakespeare was no longer stuffy.
There's the rub.
Years later I saw A Midsummer Night's Dream set in Bali.
Perchance to dream more and all that.
The Everyman prised open doors that had been closed due to unimaginative teachers.
So I was looking forward to director Nick Bagnall's idea of setting The Two Gentlemen of Verona in 1966.
Gary Cooper
A groovy idea.
He explains his vision in the excellent programme notes.
But like the hit telly series of that year Juke Box Jury and its catchphrase this ambitious production has its fair share of "hit and misses".
Opening with songs from Cliff Richard, Ken Dodd and Jim Reeves we hear the soundtrack of the time.
Our hero Valentine wants to be where its at - Milan.
The set looks like a backdrop for Top of The Pops which sets the scene.
The cast of 'Two Gentlemen Of Verona'
A bright orange framework allows an on-stage band to accompany the story with guitar riffs and some '60s dance movements and a tribute to Jimi Hendrix in the second half opening.
Ladders are scaled throughout on designer Katie Sykes compact set.
This two-hour 15 minute production is a collaboration with the inspirational Shakespeare Globe.
It has toured the UK successfully both indoors and outdoors and has now come home.
The "hits" include fine performances from Guy Hughes as Valentine who plays some lovely acoustic guitar.
James shines as Lucetta / Panthino and Thurio and there's real sparkle in Leah Brotherhead's Julia.
Dharmesh Patel, Leah Brotherhood and Guy Hughes
A song called Silvia is ironically more bluesy '50s than swinging '60s but it is a stand out number.
There's a nice prop touch, too, in a model of the World Cup - won in '66 - dangling from a guitar .
The "misses"?
Well, the music composed by James Fortune, sometimes overpowers the Bard's verse.
And some pruning of laboured text could be lost along the way.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is, as I said when I made my entrance in this review, "pure Everyman."
William Shakespeare's first raw play boded well for things to come and this production is faithful with its spurned youthful lovers with disguises, wily servants, class clashes secret messages galore (here they are in the shape of 45 singles) and plenty of comedy and more serious moments.
Long may the Everyman continue to offer us Shakespeare as seen through the famous Hope Street venue's theatrically-tinted, unique spectacles.
THREE STARS
Shakey, Rattle and Roll Until October 29.
Box office 0151 709 4776
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