Fortunately, director Domenick Scudera — masterful at wringing every laugh from a script while still honoring it — and the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's impressive Young Professional Company bring the play to life with clarity, skill and wit.

Valentine (Doug Greene) and Proteus (Tim Gross) are lifelong friends, but when Proteus sees Valentine's beloved Silvia (Melissa Lynch), daughter of the Duchess of Milan (Megan Slater), his passion for home girl Julia (Jill Lawrence) evaporates. Proteus betrays Valentine into banishment and schemes against foppish Thurio (Terry Cesarine), Silvia's other suitor. Meanwhile, spurned Julia pursues Proteus disguised — of course — as a boy.

Twisted through all these shenanigans is much talk of love, some of it banal: "If you love her, you cannot see her," says Proteus' servant Speed (Matt Kozusko). Why? "Because love is blind" (ba-bing!). This is still Shakespeare, however, with clever scene-capping couplets and sad-sack Lance's loony conversations with his dog Crab, recited by Scott Robertson and, as the panting pooch, a puppet animated by Brian Weiss.

Strong performances from a genuine ensemble with no weak links make the most of the material. Both Gross' Proteus and Greene's Valentine are ruled by their mercurial passions, while Shakespeare gives the women (Lawrence's wide-eyed Julia and Lynch's perky yet poised Silvia) and the servants (Kozusko's acerbic Speed, Jackie Kay Knox's weary and wise Lucetta) the upper hand both morally and comedically.

Two Gentlemen plays out on the stripped-down PSF thrust stage with just four benches. Most of the production's resources are devoted to Brian Strachan's brilliant costumes, which along with incidental music (a lot of early Beatles tunes) set the play circa 1964. The men sport narrow-legged suits and skinny ties, the women straddle the changing fashions with party dresses and gloves for some and, especially for glamorous Silvia, pastel mini-dresses. The outlaw gang that adopts Valentine — did I mention this story is rather silly? — are beret-wearing, bongo-bopping beatniks.

PSF steals from itself by offering this delicious confection free of charge. Take advantage, but toss something in the donations basket to ensure that we're treated like this again next August.

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)