THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (Shakespeare Happy Hours)***

 

By Aashiq

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKmAomr2XP4

Available until: till someone decides to delete it

Why do I always seem to be reviewing plays I don’t like? Sometimes I wonder if I just don’t like plays, but I think I just like moaning.

The Taming of the Shrew is a difficult play. If you don’t enjoy it, you’re miserable because you haven’t had a good time. If you do enjoy it, you’re miserable because you can’t help thinking you shouldn’t have enjoyed it. That’s not in any way a problem for me because I get the most profound satisfaction from being miserable, but some people just don’t see the value of a good whine unless you take the h out.

The difficulty for me is partly the title. The idea that people need to be tamed by their husbands. I’d like to see my husband try something like that. (Except of course I don’t actually mean that at all.) And of course I’d never try to tame him because I prefer him as he is and he’s quite tame anyway, at least when I remember not to leave the bathroom in a mess and even then he just says my name over and over and asks what he’s going to do with me and I always have a few suggestions. And ‘shrew’ is so offensive. Why not something cute like a guinea pig? Though if someone called me a guinea pig, I’d probably think I was putting on weight and I’d get really neurotic so maybe just leave out the animal references altogether. Besides, I do understand the point of ‘shrew’ really so what am I even talking about?

I think this play is one of Shakespeare’s biggest tragedies. Of course, Katherine (the name preferred by the cast) has the advantage of not being dead, but it’s horrible the way her spirit is crushed right out of her. I think she did need to learn a few manners and maybe smile a bit more and not look at people like she’s fantasising about chopping their body parts off, but that’s all. The tragedy was changing her whole personality, like she’s some character in a soap who the producers don’t want you to hate anymore.

There are a lot of plays where people from ‘minorities’ are written about in a negative way. Sexism, racism, homophobia, elitism, prejudice against mental health problems and disabilities. It’s very uncomfortable and upsetting to watch them, yet some of these plays are arguably important. The fact they are so horrible and uncomfortable shows that we’re open to thinking and assessing and learning and that’s something we really need.

The Shakespeare Happy Hours cast had a lot of reservations about the play too. They had little to say afterwards that was positive – but there are positive things to say about the adaption and the performances. I’m glad the framing story wasn’t cut (not that it really a framing story as we don’t come back to it at the end). Firstly, it’s very funny. Christopher Sly is a great character– it’s a shame to play a trick on him, but Montgomery Sutton makes him into such an amiable drunkard, it’s difficult to imagine that he’ll mind too much. It’ll give him a good story to tell when he goes back to the tavern. Secondly, the fact that Katherine’s story is a play within a play puts it at a bit of a distance. It doesn’t seem quite so disgustingly awful if we don’t have to pretend it’s real.

As always, there are some great performances – it’s often possible to appreciate talent even if we don’t appreciate what the actors are doing and it’s a sign of not just the talent but also the professionalism and commitment of the actors. I’m not denying that there’s a certain attraction in showing the audience you’re not okay with what you’ve been asked to do, that actually sounds rather fun, but it’s not an option for a truly professional actor. I always try to get my stroppiness out of my system in the first week or two of rehearsals. That makes it much easier for me to get on with my job.

Alex Hernandez was a dangerous, scary Katherine, but the change in her was actually scarier. It was a very clever performance which expressed Alex’s reservations about the play whilst always doing his job. Ella Mock’s interpretation of Petruchio makes him seem more like an idiot making a terrible mistake than a true villain – though that doesn’t change the result. Harry Waller is a likeable Bianca, Deb Radloff a well-meaning Baptista and Jennifer Jackson gives the play some rare humour with Biondello’s complete confusion about the whole disguise idea. This could be seen as a ‘gender swap’ play, but that’s not really the intention and it didn’t come across in that way. Some of the roles just happened to be played by members of a different sex, that’s all there is to it.

The costumes in this production were just so creative. I practically created a whole outfit for myself. Lucentio’s hat, Petruchio’s coat (well, I liked it), Baptista’s peacock feathers. And I’m sure I’ve got some shoes lying around. They don’t all fit on my shoe rack, for one thing.

I did think of something, though. The play is all about characters’ pretending to be someone they’re not. Lucentio, Hortensio and Tranio remove their disguises at the end. Perhaps Katherine will too, once she gets Petruchio home.

And finally, I leave you with one slight irony. The play is about men having power over women. But in the ‘real’ world, Sly’s ‘wife’ is the one with the power and he doesn’t question that.