HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-07-24, Page 19One of Shakespeare’s most
controversial plays,The Taming Of
The Shrew, has stood the test of time,
remaining one of his most popular
despite harsh criticism and an
underlying message on which no one
can quite agree.
Opening back in May and playing
through to the end of October,Shrew
is one of the cornerstones of this
year’s Stratford Shakespeare
Festival.
The shrew, Katherina, is a brutish,
sometimes violent young woman
with a sharp tongue. The taming
comes as a result of her father
stipulating that not until his rough-
around-the-edges daughter is wed,
will his other daughter, the lovely
Bianca, be allowed to do the same.
The challenge is set, a challenge
that would see a man take a smart,
independent and feisty woman and
turn her into a docile, obedient and
loving wife.
It is at this point that controversy
stands at centre stage.
While on the surface, the play is
clearly about a man taking specific
steps to marry, collect a dowry and
break his wife’s will, the play is
bookended with two short scenes
that suggest otherwise.
In the introduction, often omitted
in productions, members of royalty
find an unconscious drunkard and
upon his rousing, convince him that
he is indeed, royalty as well. The
centre of the royalty in the Stratford
production is Queen Elizabeth I,
who leads the rouse, then sits this
unfortunate man down for a play;
and then the play starts, a play within
a play.
Director Peter Hinton takes this
satyrical angle one step further with
his Stratford production,
incorporating Elizabeth as a near-
constant character, floating
throughout the scenes as an observer,
rarely interacting with the
characters.
And so the stage is set for Shrew,
presented by a company with no
weak links. The company moves and
speaks with razor-sharp precision,
hitting every mark along the way.
Katherina, played by Irene Poole,
begins in complete control of herself
and her future. However, as the play
continues, she begins to unravel as
she meets her match, in more than
one way, in Petruchio, played by
Evan Buliung.
Katherina finds her future husband
in Petruchio, but first she finds
someone with the wit and courage to
meet her at every turn. He too is
confident, crude and determined.
Petruchio absorbs insults that
Katherina has seen crumple
adversaries for years and sends them
back, often twisted into sexual
innuendo.
Convinced by his friend
Hortensio, Petruchio is blinded by
Katherina’s wealthy dowry.
Hortensio, of course, is one of
Bianca’s several suitors, not to
mention one of the standouts of the
play.
Hortensio may look a bit familiar
to theatre-goers from Huron County.
If the voice doesn’t get you, seeing
Randy Hughson playing the lute for
Bianca, played by Adrienne Gould,
might. Replace the lute with a guitar
and the dancing with some
stomping, and many will remember
Hughson from his two-year turn as
the title Canadian icon in The Ballad
Of Stompin’ Tom, which spent two
seasons at the Blyth Festival.
Some of the play’s funniest
moments come early with Hortensio
scheming with Gremio, another
standout performance given by Juan
Chioran, devising a way they can see
Katherina wed, thus giving them
their chance to wed Bianca.
This is just the beginning of the
scheming as suitors swap places,
some go in under cover (Hortensio
as a music teacher and a third suitor,
Lucentio, as a language teacher, a
gift from Gremio, one of the first
suitors).
However confusing these three
make it for themselves, their one
objective remains winning the heart
of Bianca.
Petruchio’s wooing of Katherina,
however, is rather straightforward.
After a hasty courting, Petruchio
insists Katherina be his wife. Their
relationship, with all credit to Poole
and Buliung, is brilliantly complex.
Petruchio and Katherina fight and
hurl insults, but at times appear to
have a genuine connection. As time
goes on, Katherina’s love for
Petruchio grows and grows, but also
sparks more debate, as it is no secret
that sarcasm is a very oft-used
weapon in her arsenal.
Shortly after the ceremony,
Katherina is plucked from her
father’s castle and relocated to
Petruchio’s home where she is
deprived of sleep and food, both of
which her husband allows her to
have, eventually. Not only do these
measures break Katherina’s spirit,
but with Petruchio seemingly
tending the gate to these pleasures,
his taming begins to take hold.
Katherina finds herself back at her
father’s castle with her new husband
to see Bianca finally wed. This leads
to Shrew’s most controversial
moment, one of Shakespeare’s best
monologues and Poole’s best
moments on stage.
As part of a wager, Petruchio,
Lucentio and Hortensio seek to
determine whose wife is the most
obedient. They call their new wives
to see which one answers first.
Shocked that Petruchio would
even throw his hat into this ring, the
other two men jump at the chance to
take his money. However, when
called for, it is solely Katherina who
emerges at her husband’s call,
winning Petruchio the purse.
In Shrew’s closing moments
comes an awe-inspiring performance
from Poole, to the other two wives,
explaining why wives should be
obedient to their husbands.
Poole delivers Shakespeare’s
hallowed words with conviction and
genuine sadness and anger at the
other women, who she feels aren’t
getting the point of marriage.
While Katherina delivers her
words, Petruchio stands by,
watching proudly as he not only
wins the bet, but as his wife strives to
teach the others a lesson. He watches
with adoration as the woman he
loves expresses her love back to him
and the satisfaction of a job well
done.
As Petruchio takes the hand of his
wife, thus ends the play within the
play, as Elizabeth returns to toast the
drunkard, dropping the curtain on
Shrew.
The play pops at every turn, with
the company garnering laughs when
they want them and silence when
they leave the audience speechless.
The Taming Of The Shrew
continues at the Festival Theatre in
Stratford until Oct. 25.
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 24, 2008. PAGE 19.Entertainment Leisure&
On the run
One of Shakespeare’s more controversial plays, The Taming Of The Shrew, is filling the
season-long slot of May 19 to Oct. 25 at this year’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The play
is full of standout performances, both dramatic and humorous, including these two potential
suitors for Bianca, sister of Katherina (The Shrew). Hortensio, left, played by a familiar face to
Blyth Festival audiences, Randy Hughson of The Ballad Of Stompin’ Tom fame and Gremio,
played by Juan Chioran, right, concoct a plan to have someone marry Katherina freeing up
Bianca to her potential suitors. (David Hou photo)
Theatre review‘Shrew’ wins reviewer’s popularity contest
Forthcoming Marriage
Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Tilly
Anderson
are pleased to announce
the engagement
of their daughter
Rosalyn Hartman
to
Mathew Walden
son of
Mr. and Mrs. Gary and Rachel
Walden.
Rosalyn is also the daughter
of the late Mark Hartman.
Their wedding will take place at
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
on September 6, 2008.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Head.
Heart.
Hands.
Health.
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