And what clever casting it is. Director Penni Bousfield has subverted the roles of many of the male heavy ensemble, and the two titular “gentlemen” of the show are played by women – Monika De La Cruz and Eleanor Clarke as Proteus and Valentine respectively. So too are some other fairly central characters – Valentine’s manservant (Hanna Allouard) and Proteus’ servant Launce (Leila-Rose Skeates) – who, along with Launce’s dog Crab (Connor Marquand) provide some of the play’s best comedic moments. All hail from the Raglan-based RAD Company, this year collaborating with Hamilton’s Slip of the Tongue theatre company – for years the purveyors of all things Shakespeare at the gardens arts fest.