Tuesday, December 25, 2018

The Taming Of The Shrew (2013) DVD Review

If you can’t get to London to see a performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays at The Globe, you can at least watch many of the productions at home, thanks to the Globe On Screen series. The Taming Of The Shrew is especially fun. It stars Simon Paisley Day as Petruchio and Samantha Spiro as Katherina. While this production does rely on a couple of stale devices – Katherina wielding a whip, Grumio acting as Petruchio’s horse – the performances are so damn good that the entire thing is totally enjoyable.

Act I

Interestingly, it begins with a drunk guy outside the theatre, making something of an ass of himself. He ends up with the groundlings inside and eventually makes his way onto the stage while talking on his cell phone. He then passes out. Of course, he is Christopher Sly. The other actors come onto the stage to discuss what’s to be done with him, and before we know it, we are into the play. What a brilliant way of presenting the induction. I’m thrilled that it’s included at all, for it’s often cut. But in this version not only is it included, but it’s handled ingeniously. While Christopher Sly is in modern clothing, most of the others are in period costume, or are getting into period costume. In fact, Christopher Sly is put into period costume as well before he is woken. Christopher bends down to ask an audience member if he is a lord. The guy tells him he is. Christopher Sly and the person pretending to be his wife step into the audience to watch the play.

Lucentio (Joseph Timms) and Tranio (Jamie Beamish) step above as the others enter. Katherina (Samantha Spiro) rushes at Gremio (Michael Bertenshaw) after his “To cart her” remark. She is then violent with Hortensio (Rick Warden). It is clear from the start that Bianca (Sarah MacRae) is full of shit, putting on an act for her father and others. And Katherina is shown to have some cause for her anger, as she is locked out of her own home at one point. That doesn’t stop her, of course. Samantha Spiro sinks her teeth into this role, as well as bares them. Lucentio has a delightful excitement and youthfulness in his spoken passion for Bianca. During the exchange between Lucentio and Tranio, Christopher Sly shouts out a few comments from the audience: “Vile, intolerable, not to be endured!” In the text, Christopher Sly isn’t heard from after the second scene, which some consider a weakness of the play. Petruchio (Simon Paisley Day) and Grumio (Pearce Quigley) enter from the audience. (By the way, the actor who plays Christopher Sly also plays Petruchio, which is great. He disappeared into the audience as Christopher Sly, and reappears from the audience as Petruchio.) Grumio is hilarious with his sometimes dry delivery. Petruchio then uses Grumio’s head to knock on Hortensio’s door. Grumio actually kicks a bucket over when Petruchio says his father is deceased, and again when Petruchio mentions his father again. (Productions of this play love to make jokes about the deceased father.)

Act II

Bianca runs onto the stage, bound and blindfolded. Katherina enters behind her with a whip, hitting the floor near her with it. Katherina unties her hands, but knocks her down. Bianca strikes back, but upon Baptista’s entrance immediately falls down and takes to sobbing. And we get a moment when Katherina seeks affection from her father, but doesn’t get it. Tranio takes great pleasure in his role as master Lucentio, and is a joy to watch. I love Petruchio’s delivery of “Why, that is nothing.” Rather than having the lute around Hortensio’s head, Katherina tosses the broken instrument onto the stage after Hortensio says “Why no” He then finishes: “for she hath broke the lute to me.” And on “And through the instrument my pate made way,” Petruchio holds the instrument up to his own face, looking through the large hole in it. Petruchio gets delight in hearing Hortensio’s story of Katherina’s words to him. There is a nice moment when Katherina first sees Petruchio, and is quiet, clearly curious about it. When Petruchio says “Why, here’s no crab,” he walks backwards on all fours like a crab. Petruchio chases her through the audience at one point. They are absolutely fantastic together.

Act III

Bianca clearly enjoys the attention given her by Hortensio and Lucentio in disguise. After “despair not,” Bianca kisses Lucentio. Biondello (Tom Godwin) is excellent when describing Petruchio on the way to his wedding. And eventually he – understandably – drives Baptista mad. Petruchio’s goofy attire includes a cooking pot as a hat. This production borrows the old Monty Python gag of Grumio tapping two coconut halves together to imitate the sound of a horse. After the wedding, Petruchio puts Katherina on Grumio’s back, and away they ride into the audience. Everyone laughs at Bianca’s joke, but of course Gremio’s joke falls flat. The intermission comes at the end of Act III Scene ii. After the intermission, Petruchio’s servants perform a song. They then exit, and Grumio enters to begin Scene iii. His line “my horse is tired” of course has the meaning that he himself is tired. But he speaks of two horses, which makes less sense when Grumio is the only horse. There is a lot of play during the dinner scene, the scene in which Katherina never gets to eat. Then Lucentio and Bianca are above, while Tranio and Hortensio are below, spying on their love-making. Bianca’s delivery of the lines about taming hints at how she’ll react later during the wager.

Act IV

Katherina struggles to thank Petruchio for the meat he presents to her. And she is hilarious as she watches Hortensio stuff his face with the meat. The roles of haberdasher and tailor are combined into one, as usual, and Grumio models the tailor’s gown. Grumio’s delivery of “I confess the cape” is hilarious. There is a touching moment at the end of Act IV Scene i, where Katherina tears up, exhausted. The scene about the sun/moon is done really well, and Katherina is funny when addressing Vincentio as “Young budding virgin.” Vincentio then turns the joke back on them, directing “fair sir” to Katherina and “merry mistress” to Petruchio, a wonderful touch.

Act V

Music and an air of celebration begin the fifth act. The men take some joy in the bet, stomping and thumping in unison when the servant goes to bid Bianca and then the widow to come. Katherina is clearly in on it when she is ordered to remove her cap. Katherina kneels down at the end of her speech, putting out her hand for Petruchio to step on. Petruchio takes her hand in his and they kiss. Petruchio and Katherina exit into the audience at end, while others engage in a dance. They then reappear above, and the dance takes on a livelier vibe.

This production of The Taming Of The Shrew was directed by Toby Frow, and was directed for the screen by Ross MacGibbon.

Time: 167 minutes

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