Presumably, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, was performed in Shakespeare's lifetime, but its first recorded performance is in 1762, on 22nd December, when actor-manager David Garrick mounted it for six performances in an adaptation by Benjamin Victor. He re-ordered and conflated scenes, even adding some of his own.

The Shakespeare Revival of 1730 to 1860 had Garrick at its forefront. Perhaps due to Garrick's friendship with Hogarth, the revival fuelled a new interest in theatrical painting.

The first recorded performance of the play in the original is in 1784, where it was performed once at Covent Garden. An operatic version, with music by Henry Rowley Bishop ran for twenty-nine performances in 1821, also at Covent Garden. It included songs from of Shakespeare's other plays and some of the Sonnets.

In 1895, it was staged by Augustin Daly at Daly's Theatre. He altered the play, making it as light as possible. George Bernard Shaw commented that it was 'not a comic opera but a vaudeville' and a 'very pleasant evening for those who know no better'!