[NEohioPAL] Berko review: TAMING OF THE SHREW @ GREAT LAKES THEATER

[Roy Berko]

Farcical THE TAMING OF
THE SHREW entertains at GLTF, but…
Roy Berko
(Member, American Theatre
Critics Association)
--Times Newspapers—
Lorain
County Times, Westlaker Times, Lakewood News Times, Olmsted-Fairview Times
--coolCleveland.com--
Though it is billed as a
comedy, Shakespeare’s TAMING OF THE SHREW, a version of which is now on stage
at Great Lakes Theatre, is a play of controversy. To understand the hullabaloo,
knowledge of the plot is necessary.
The tale,
which is set in Hollywood, California, in this version, finds Lucentio, a rich
young man, arriving in the city with his servants, Tranio and Biondello, to
attend a local university. Lucentio’s center of attention changes when he sees
and instantly falls in love with the beautiful Bianca.  As happens in such tales, there are
problems.  In this case, Bianca
already has two suitors and, most importantly, her wealthy father will not let
Bianca be courted until her older sister, the ill-tempered Kate, has married.  Petruchio, a suitor for Kate comes
along, and we are carried into Shakespeare’s tale of how the shrew is
“tamed.”  
 
The
quote marks around the word “tamed” are not by accident.  That word is the center of the script’s
ability to inflame strong reaction.
 
The
controversy centers on the play’s ending, when the strong-headed Kate does, or
appears to buckle into the will of society, in this case, the will of her
husband and declares, “The husband is the lord,” indicating the misogynistic and patriarchalview
that women are persons to be controlled by men.  This concept, of course, does not sit well with modern
women.  It reeks of the views of
the rulers of such countries as Saudi Arabia and Iran and males who abuse and denigrate
women.
 
While feminists
and their followers declare that the play’s ending needs to be dropped, alterted,
or that Kate’s lines should be coded to indicate that what she is saying is not
what she means, others have defended the play by highlighting the play's
sentiments are not meant to be taken at face value, that the entire play is, in
fact, a farce. 
 
This disagreement places a
clear obligation on each production’s director to choose an interpretation of Kate’s
final speech, as it is this scene, which in the end defines the meaning of the
entire production.  The director
has at least four choices:  (1) Kate's speech is sincere
and Petruchio (her husband) has successfully tamed her or she has come to see
that they're well-matched in temperament; (2) Kate’s speech is ironic: she is
not being sincere in her statements but sarcastic, pretending to have been
tamed when in reality she has completely duped or is humoring Petruchio; (3) Kate's
speech cannot be taken seriously due to the farcical nature of the play;  (4) Kate’s speech both satirizes gender
roles and emphasizes the social need for wives to be obedient to their
husbands.
 
In
the GLT’s production, there is no satirical verbal or nonverbal hint of tongue
in cheek, there is no wink as Sara Bruner (Kate) is stating her speech, there
is no overdone farcical aspect to the scene as was present in much of the
production.  So, does this mean
that Young, a woman, opted for option 1?  Since she writes no program notes, the viewer has no way of
knowing.
 
As
to the rest of the production, Young has pulled out all the shticks to produce
a staging that will delight all those who love the Three Stooges, Saturday
morning cartoons, and productions that are way bigger than life. 
 
Young
has set the production in 1980, with many references to Tinsel Town.  There are tourists going on home tours
of the stars, mention of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Ralph Loren clothing
designs.   Slang, rock music,
nonverbal gestures and somewhat era correct clothes waft across the stage.
 
The
wedding scenes are each delightful, the elevator thrust stage is used
effectively to make set pieces and people appear and disappear before our very
eyes, the music is fun, the choreography properly over the top, and the fights
are of well staged.  The first act
is let loose fun; the second stanza seems to run out of steam.  
 
Sara
Bruner goes totally overboard as Kate.  How she gets through a performance without getting hurt from the flips,
rolling on the floor battles, and headlocks, is amazing.  She is beyond real, obviously creating
a character true to her director’s desires.  As such, she is a delight.  
 
Her
Petruchio, (Jim Lichtscheidl) a gentleman of Montana, who is used to roping
wild things, wrestles and abuses his Kate into submission by withholding food,
holding her captive and generally taming her.  Unfortunately, he is somewhat inconsistent in his character
development.  
 
Reggie
Gowland makes for a handsome and realistic love-sick Lucentio.   Kjerstine Rose Anderson is
adorable as the cheerleader perky Bianca.  Neil Brookshire and Danny Henning, as Lucentio’s servants, are
delightful.
 
Michael
Locher’s steel-clad set is distracting.  The doors don’t always work well as devices of quick exits, the constant
changing of pictures and window coverings on the second floor rooms is
distracting, and the straight line walls seems to get in the way of the action,
rather than helping it.
 
Capsule
judgement:  Great Lakes Theatre’s
production of TAMING OF THE SHREW will be a delight for those who like their theatre
and Shakespeare over the top.  It
well may infuriate those who champion women as equals of men. 
 
 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2011, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.  His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and www.NeOHIOpal
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