• HOME
• FEATURES
• CULTURE
• OPINION
• FOOD
• MUSIC
• MOVIES
• WORDS
• TV
• GREEN SPACES
• BLOG

Search: 

Thou Hast Hit It

Slocum House tames The Taming of the Shrew

By Steven Walling

Depending on whom you ask, The Taming of the Shrew is either a beloved romantic farce or a misogynistic moral tract on wifely duty. However you interpret its themes, the play is a pithy and amusing romantic comedy, and Slocum House Theatre Company’s new production is a genuinely delightful staging of Shakespeare’s work.

The beautiful Bianca (Amanda Martin-Tully) is pursued by a score of anxious suitors. Her mother (JoAnn Grandon) decrees that her ill-tempered sister Katharina (Stephanie Christine Anderson) must be wed before Bianca can pursue her own matrimonial bliss, and therein lies the problem. Add into the mix typical Shakespearean characters and ploys such as devious servants, doddering fools, and several cases of mistaken identity, and you have all the makings of first-class theatrical hilarity.

For the setting, Slocum House has chosen to stick with the original Italian city of Padua, and despite a meager budget and far from extravagant set, the company does a fine job of suspending disbelief.

The real key (of course) is in the language, and here the cast performs admirably. The all-to-common problem with Shakespeare is that actors find themselves spouting lines they do not fully comprehend, but this was clearly not the case for Slocum House. The work was also performed with an appropriately brisk pacing. The Taming of the Shrew may not be Hamlet, but despite its short length, a plodding pace can drain the life from the piece. Brevity is the soul of wit, as the Bard would put it, and Slocum House certainly demonstrates the truth of his maxim.

There were—it must be admitted—a few persistent mishaps in our cast’s delivery. Occasionally, lines were rendered unintelligible by lack of articulation. Even when the phrasing was coherent, there were some features particular to Shakespearean line readings missing, the liquid U for example (duty is dew-ty, not doody).

Despite such minor slips, the cast accomplished the broader and more difficult tasks of communicating motivation, nailing comedic timing, and presenting strong characterization. Brandon Budden as Petruchio was the standout performance of the evening, finding an excellent balance between slapstick antics and more delicate machinations. As for the titular shrew, Anderson achieved something more easily said than done: a Kate that was adequately loudmouthed and still likable.

The critical moment that must ultimately decide the success of any production of this play comes immediately after the climax of the action, when a concluding monologue makes additional commentary on the themes and morality of the piece. Up until this point, The Taming of the Shrew is little more than a series of bawdy laughs. Here at last is the moment where some statement of moral significance cannot be avoided. And it is here where our players face a real conundrum: a conscious decision must be made by the cast regarding what sort of spin they want to make on the original themes at work in the text.

Due to such lines as “Thy husband is thy lord”, some modern critics have lambasted The Taming of the Shrew for supporting notions of male dominance. Luckily, many actors charged with the responsibility of delivering the tricky lines in question attempt to counteract such overtly sexist language with a hefty dose of irony, and evidently Slocum House chose to do the same. As this production evolves and matures, one can only hope that the irony illuminated by their interpretation becomes clearer still.

The Taming of the Shrew may not possess the sheer imagination of A Midsummer Night’s Dream or the poetic invention of Twelfth Night, but it is most certainly an appealing comedy. Slocum House should be commended for putting plenty of earnest work into illuminating Shakespeare’s text, and audiences should not miss an opportunity to reap the thoroughly entertaining rewards.

(Slocum House Theatre, 605 Esther St., Vancouver; show runs February 22 through March 16, Thu.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. matinee; $10, $8 seniors over 60; call 696.2427 or email reservations@slocumhouse.com to reserve tickets, or visit www.slocumhouse.com for more information.)

• General (31)
• Culture (16)
• Opinion (29)
• Food (13)
• Music (13)
• Movies (46)
• Words (10)
• TV (13)
• Green (14)