The Taming Of The Shrew (Shakespeare By The Sea’s 2017 Production) Theatre Review

Shakespeare By The Sea tours Los Angeles County and Orange County each summer, performing two of Shakespeare’s plays in parks throughout the area. The performances are free, though donations are accepted and appreciated. This summer, which marks the company’s twentieth year, they are putting on productions of The Taming Of The Shrew and Macbeth. Last night they performed The Taming Of The Shrew at Los Encinos State Historic Park in Encino. A half hour before the performance was scheduled to start, four members of the company (including director Cylan Brown) came out to answer questions from the audience. Most questions seemed to focus on the language of the play, and the way it is spoken. And then at 7 p.m., the play began.

There is a festive air at the start of the performance, with many of the characters in a light and happy mood. (The Induction, with Christopher Sly, is cut from this production.) Bianca is in a yellow dress, the color matching the mood. But that mood is broken by the entrance of Kate, dressed in red, who watches the action, then comes in to spoil the fun – all done without dialogue, of course, as this scene is not in the text. The play then begins with the third scene, with Lucentio (Iyan Evans) and his man Tranio. However, in this production, Tranio is not “his man,” but rather his woman, played by Olivia Schlueter-Corey. So when she takes Lucentio’s place, it becomes another case of a woman disguised as a man, something not in the text, but a playful choice, leading to some funny moments and business. It does lead to some minor troubles with the text, as when Biondello (Trevor Scott) enters and says that Tranio has stolen Lucentio’s clothes, for at that moment she still has her dress on. And Biondello continues, “Or you stolen hers?” That line doesn’t quite work, as he is not wearing her dress. When Tranio mentions her love for Lucentio, her gender gives the line a different tone.

There is some physical comedy, with Kate at first coming across as almost cruel, particularly as she kicks Gremio’s cane out, causing him to fall. (Later, Petruchio does the same thing, showing that he and Kate might be a good match even before they meet.) In the scene with Bianca tied with rope, when Bianca says “untie my hands,” Kate lets go of the rope, causing Bianca to fall. And the coconut joke is taken from Monty Python And The Holy Grail (the Independent Shakespeare Company also used this bit in the 2014 production of this play). Bianca’s tears when their father enters are clearly affected for his benefit, which is nice. We feel for Kate at this moment, which is wonderful, and we even see a bit of her vulnerability. This production does an excellent job of making Kate a believable and human character, and that is in large part because of Morgan Hill’s excellent performance. By the way, Baptista’s costume is a mix of red and yellow, a mix of his two daughters’ colors, which is a nice touch.

There are lots of nice touches in this production. For example, I love that when Petruchio (Bryson Allman) says “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;/If wealthily, then happily in Padua,” Grumio joins him in the second line, implying that Petruchio has been saying this a lot. And I appreciate the play between Petruchio and Hortensio (Ryan Knight) when Petruchio introduces the disguised Hortensio as Licio. Their friendship is apparent in their exchange, and in their ease around each other. I also like that Petruchio does some stretching as he delivers his soliloquy while waiting to meet Kate for the first time. He knows he needs to be ready for this one. And that scene – their first meeting – is handled really well by both actors. There are moments within that scene where they come close to kissing, showing a mutual attraction. And I love that Kate is stunned that Petruchio truly seems to want her. We see that she is unsure, both of his feelings and perhaps of her own, but tries to maintain the disposition that her father and others have come to expect of her.

Jacqueline Misaye has some strong moments as Bianca. She clearly loves the attention given to her by Lucentio and Hortensio, and when she tells them “Farewell, sweet masters both; I must be gone,” she adds a dramatic flair. She’s a woman who knows her own worth, and is not above flaunting it. What I love about this is that it also sets up the ending, making it believable and no surprise when Bianca does not respond to her husband’s bidding to come. Each of the actors has some delightful moments. Patrick Vest as Gremio has such joy when telling the tale of Petruchio’s behavior at the wedding, that we feel it in the audience, almost as if we’d seen it ourselves. But of course the focus is on Petruchio and Kate and their relationship, and both Bryson (B.J. Allman) and Morgan Hill turn in excellent performances. Kate is allowed little moments where she begins to catch on to the game, which help make the final scene work well. For example, at the end of Act IV Scene i, after Hortensio delivers his line “Why, so this gallant will command the sun” and exits, Kate is left alone on stage momentarily, and we can see from her expression that she is beginning to figure out what’s going on, leading even to her enjoyment of it. And we also see that Petruchio cares for Kate, which is important. He seems excited to have met his match, and doesn't want to ruin that by removing her personality, her zest. Rather, it seems in this production that he wants her to be on the same page as him, working with him rather than against him.

To fit into the two-hour time frame, there are some cuts. However, apart from the induction (which is almost always cut), there aren’t any major losses. The haberdasher and tailor are combined into one character, and Grumio is used as the model for the gown, which is funny. This production doesn’t make all that much use of the audience and the space in front of the stage, though at one point Petruchio, Kate and Hortensio do enter from within the audience, Kate even stopping to drink some wine that a woman had brought. The company refrains from adding modern references, though there is a nod to the location at the end, when instead of “Padua affords this kindness,” Baptista says, “Encino affords this kindness.”

There is one intermission (which is approximately twenty-five minutes), coming at the end of Act III Scene ii. During the intermission, members of the company sell raffle tickets and programs. One woman made me laugh by calling out, “Find out which of our actors are single in the program.” She then added: “It’s not in there. I’ll just tell you.” The play ended at 9:14 p.m., and as the players took their bows, the sound cut out, an unexpected moment, which amused both the actors and the audience. There are still a few more chances to see this production, the last performance being on August 19th. Check out the schedule on Shakespeare By The Sea’s website.