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Two REVIEWS
of Shrew -
by
Scott Ross (performance of 9/17/05), &
by Robert W. McDowell (performance of 9/22/05)
***
REVIEW: Burning
Coal Theatre Company: This Taming of the Shrew Suffers from
a Cryptic (and Inconsistent) Conceptual Overlay
by
Scott Ross
Whoever he really was, the shade of William Shakespeare must
quail every time a stage director concocts some “new” way
of presenting his work. Much has been said, and written, about “The
Question” implicit in The Taming of the Shrew — by which
I assume is meant, “What is the Bard saying about women?” In
the case of Burning Coal Theatre Company’s current offering,
directed by Jerome Davis, the real question should be: Isn’t
the play — isn’t Shakespeare generally — difficult enough
to stage and perform without the imposition of a cryptic (and
inconsistent) conceptual overlay?
Not that the masculine/feminine dynamic is incidental. A modern
audience can find the chauvinist implications of the play as
daunting, and unsettling, as the depiction of Shylock in The
Merchant of Venice. In the case of Shrew, it may be noted that
this is a very early work in the canon. The willfully subservient
position of Katharina at the close, untenable to us, is years
(and in terms of the playwright’s eventual mastery of characterization,
miles) removed from the resolute rebelliousness of Juliet; the
sober maturity of Portia; the ardent acerbity of Beatrice; the
androgynous determination of Rosalind; the loyalty and innocence
of Desdemona, Ophelia, and Cordelia; the bloody cunning of Lady
Macbeth; the resolve of Cleopatra; or the spirituality and devotion
of Isabella — women no one would tame, try as they might. Katharina
is something of a special case. Her subjugation (not to mention
humiliation) by Petruchio is rather above and beyond. (Which
may have something to do with Davis’ casting of a woman
in the role of the servant Tranio — at least one female on the
stage is free and comparatively independent.)
An aside: I must confess here to a preference for the Cole Porter/Sam
and Bella Spewak re-imagination of the play as Kiss Me, Kate over the original. It’s just as hard-edged, farcical, and
risqué as its source (Porter’s lyrics are among
the most cheerfully filthy ever heard on a Broadway stage), but
somehow more agreeable and benign — maybe because it’s
about show business people, whom no one takes seriously anyway.
And it’s difficult now to hear some of Shakespeare’s
lines without humming Porter’s accompaniments in your mind.
The central misogyny of the play may be worth coming to terms
with dramatically. But Davis’ Zen and Japanese theater
approach is less a working out of these issues than the imposition
of a “concept.” An elaborate prologue, with Katharina
in lotus position, the servants (all young women here) striking
defensive Tai Chi attitudes and the entire company prayerfully
intoning, or mumbling, Kate’s “I am ashamed that
women are so simple” speech (at least, I think that’s
what it was; I also heard a trace of “Tijuana Taxi” in
the lugubrious musical accompaniment) suggests a radical interpretation
that is never followed up on. True, Sonya Drum’s scenic
design consists of a frame and sliding screens a la Kabuki, a
Japanese sand garden and paper lanterns, whereas Maggie Clifton’s
costumes include tunics from the Samurai era (or Samurai by way
of George Lucas anyway), characters spend the evening in bare
feet and drink from saki cups, rice is brought forth in serving
bowls, and Petruchio (dressed elsewhere like an Allied fighter
pilot — the Occidental intruder in the Oriental mix?) is brought
on for the wedding in a rickshaw. But the surface skin is as
deep as this Mikadization goes.
Sadly, the performances are largely just as epidermal,
with the radiant exception of Liz Beckham’s Tranio and
the all-too-brief professionalism of Bob Barr’s Vincentio.
Nick Berg Barnes is a variable Petruchio, comfortable with the
verse and amusing
when he isn’t too pleased with himself, and while the redoubtable
Debra Gillingham is game, Katharina — as
she has so many others
— finally
defeats her, too. There might be a lesson in that.
***
REVIEW:
Burning Coal Theatre Company: Debra Gillingham and Nick
Berg Barnes Sparkle in The Taming of the Shrew
by
Robert W. McDowell
TTR Editor’s note: From time to time, two of our
critics disagree on the relative merits of a production.
This
is one of those times. — R.W.M.
The current Burning Coal Theatre Company modern-dress,
barefoot presentation of The Taming of the Shrew — staged
Wednesday-Sunday through Oct. 2nd in the Kennedy Theater
in the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts
in downtown Raleigh, NC — is a fresh new take on William
Shakespeare’s epic Battle of the Sexes.
Burning Coal artistic director Jerome Davis employs
a Japanese motif for the externals, which include scenic
designer Sonya Drum’s stylish set, with its sliding
panels at the rear and central sandbox in which the childish
adults throw their temper tantrums, and costume designer
Maggie Clifton’s eye-catching costumes for everyone,
except Petruchio, who dresses in a brown bomber jacket,
khakis, and work boots. Davis opens the show with Wilmington
actress Debra Gillingham as Katharina (Kate), the notorious “froward,” peevish,
ill-tempered title character of the piece, chanting her
famous “I am ashamed that women are so simple” speech
of submission that closes the show as a Zen-like mantra
— and the other actors join in Kate’s chant.
New York actor and native Londoner Nick Berg Barnes,
who plays, perhaps, Western drama’s biggest Male
Chauvinist Pig, reminds us of a bigger, much brawnier
Dudley Moore as he cheerfully swaggers around the set,
with his eyes sparkling and a stinging insult on his
tongue, and he inflicts humiliation after humiliation
on the proud Kate and the groveling Grumio (a cringing,
hunchbacked characterization by Luke Custer) and the
rest of his dull-witted servants. Although she looks
tired, with circles under her eyes, Gillingham gives
a spirited performance as Kate the Cursed, lacerating
her enemies with her waspish tongue and hurling herself
at all who antagonize her, claws extended cat-like.
In a brilliant piece of cross-gender casting, Liz Beckham
portrays Tranio, the upstart servant of Lucentio (Ryan
Lee), with admirable spunk and wit. Lee has less to do,
except look lovelorn, as the hopelessly smitten swain
who pretends to be a bookish schoolteacher and woos and
finally wins Kate’s beautiful but shallow sister
Bianca (Heather Hackford). Lucentio outshines and outmaneuvers
her Bianca’s other, equally ardent — but less
resourceful — suitors, Gremio (Jason Weeks) and Hortensio
(Stephen LeTrent).
To borrow a term from Southern Ladies and Gentlemen by Florence King, Bianca is “daddy’s little
puddyface,” the favorite daughter who can do no
wrong, whereas Bianca’s older, plainer sister Kate
seemingly can do no right in her dad’s eyes. So,
when the young men start to line up on the family doorstep,
to compete for Bianca’s fickle affections, their
father Baptista (Phil Crone) insists that his beloved
youngest daughter will not wed until a suitable mate
is found for his eldest daughter, the unhappy and disagreeable
Kate. Then in walks Petruchio, in search of a fortune
and a challenge, and the play’s plot thickens.
Heather Hackford is amusing as Bianca, Jason Weeks and
Stephen LeTrent are funny as Bianca’s bickering
suitors, and Phil Crone is the epitome of the autocratic
yet affectionate father. Bob Barr (Vincentio), David
Coulter (Pedant), Ian Finley (Biondello), and Danijela
Lazarevic (The Widow) also make the most of their fleeting
moments in the spotlight so skillfully wielded by lighting
designer Cindy Limauro.
In giving us a Shrew for our times, in which woman are
more liberated than their 16th century Italian sisters
whose chattel status made them little more than slaves
to the men in their lives, director Jerry Davis makes
some big gambles — most of which pay off — and this
high-energy ensemble, led by Nick Berg Barnes and Debra
Gillingham, make this two-and-a-half hour show rewarding
for its audience.
***
Burning Coal Theatre Company
presents The Taming of the Shrew Wednesday-Saturday,
Sept. 21-24 and Sept. 28-Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Sept.
25 and Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. in the Kennedy Theater in the Progress
Energy Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., Raleigh,
North Carolina. $10 Wednesday and groups of 10 or more and
$16 Thursday-Sunday ($14 students, seniors 65+, and active-duty
military personnel).
919/834-4001 or http://www.burningcoal.org/Tickets%20for%20SHREW.htm
[inactive 8/07]. Burning Coal Theatre Company: http://www.burningcoal.org/.
Shakespeare Resources: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/shakespeare/
[inactive 3/10].
E-Text: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ShaTamF.html (First
Folio, 1623) and http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/MobTami.html (Globe
Edition, 1866).
PREVIEW: Burning
Coal Theatre Company: Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew Is
the Ultimate Battle of the Sexes
by
Robert W. McDowell
Burning Coal Theatre Company will present the ultimate Battle of
the Sexes, The Taming of the Shrew by English dramatist William Shakespeare
(1584-1616), Sept. 15-Oct. 2 in the Kennedy Theater in the Progress
Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh, NC. Burning
Coal artistic director Jerome Davis will direct an all-star cast
that includes British actor Nick Berg Barnes as the male-chauvinist-pig
fortune-hunter Petruchio and Wilmington, NC actress Debra Gillingham
as Katharina (Kate), the temperamental eldest daughter of a wealthy
Padua family and the seething object of Petruchio’s unwanted
amorous overtures.
First produced in 1593-94, this 16th century story of Love Italian
Style is based on English playwright George Gascoigne’s 1566
comedy Supposes, which is in itself an English version of Italian
dramatist Ludovico Ariosto’s 1509 comedy I suppositi.
“I played Petruchio at 17,” recalls Jerry Davis. “Not
a good idea, but I figured ‘What the heck?’ I got to
wear tights and swing on a huge, knotted rope. That combination also
turned out to be not such a good idea, but that’s a story I’d
prefer to leave at rest, thank you.”
Davis says, “I still have nightmares about that production.
The actor’s nightmare — a classic — with my own personal
twist. In my dream, I am running around backstage on opening night
frantically looking for a copy of the script. Everyone keeps telling
me: ‘We’ve been off book for weeks. Why would we have
a script?’
“The nightmare wasn’t far from the truth,” Davis
says. “It took me a week to memorize the first page. I did
a little better afterward, and managed to stagger through the four-performance
run. The first thing my acting teacher said to me in college is ‘You
can’t ad lib Shakespeare.’ I had very little respect
for her after she said that.”
One of his main motives for wanting to direct Shrew, Davis quips,
is, “I don’t understand it. I don’t know why people
want to do plays that they DO understand. Why not just read it and
smile to yourself in ... well, understanding.”
When the curtain rises, Davis says, “A family patriarch, Baptista
Minola (Phil Crone), wants to get his youngest daughter, Bianca (Heather
Hackford), married off to one of her many suitors. The problem: custom
dictates that his older daughter, the raging shrew Katharina, or
Kate (Debra Gillingham), must first be wed. But no man in the county
wants to touch the savage Kate. Until an out-of-towner, Petruchio
(Nick Berg Barnes), comes along. But the ‘Taming’ that
Petruchio has in mind for Kate is much different than what anyone
had in mind. Hilarity ensues.”
Besides Barnes, Crone, Gillingham, and Hackford, the Burning Coal
cast for Shrew includes New York City-based actress Liz Beckham as
the goofball servant Tranio and Triangle actors Bob Barr, Stephen
LeTrent, Ian Finley, and Noelle Barnard — plus David Coulter, Luke
Custer, Heather Fisher, Juanita Frederick, Becca Johnson, Danijela
Lalarevic, Ryan Nazionale, Justin Schwartz, Amanda Watson, and Jason
Weeks.
In addition to director Jerome Davis, who previously directed Rat
in the Skull, Pentecost, Winding the Ball, The
Steward of Christendom,
Night and Day, The Weir, Company, Juno
and the Paycock, and Accidental
Death of an Anarchist for Burning Coal, the show’s production
team will include assistant director Gina Kelly; technical director
Curtis Jones; scenic designer extraordinaire Sonya Drum; lighting
designer Cindy Limauro of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh,
PA; costume designer Maggie Clifton of Washington, DC; properties
master Gabrieal Griego; sound designer Sloe; and stage manager Andy
Hayworth.
When asked to identify the major challenges of staging Shrew for
21st century audiences, Jerry Davis responds, “Well, it is
a big play, and a comedy with a serious question at its core. So,
all the elements have to serve two purposes: to further the comedic
surface storytelling and also to reveal the deeper heart of the play.
We have a great design team for this one, including Cindy Limauro,
who headed the lighting program at Carnegie Mellon for six years.”
With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Davis describes the show’s
set as “a big ole sandbox” and its lighting and its costumes
as “zen-like.”
He adds, “I think certain questions are evident in Shrew that
are never really explored, or that I’ve never really seen explored.
One: Why is Kate unhappy? Answer: because she lives in a society
that devalues women. One line in the play says, ‘Men should
be strong on the inside and women should be pretty on the outside’ (paraphrase).
So, we understand then that Kate is rebelling.
“We also know from the text that she is the only one so rebelling,” Davis
points out. “All the other women in the community ‘play
the game’ in order to get what they want (i.e., comfort, protection,
wealth).”
The second question, Davis says, is “What does Petruchio want?
We know his father has just died. We know he has tons of money. And
we know that he has left his own hometown to find a wife. Why? Simple
answer: he didn’t like any of the women in his hometown, and/or
they didn’t like him.
“As soon as he hears of Kate, the rebellious one, he says ‘That
one is for me.’ Why?” Davis asks. “Because he recognizes
a kindred spirit. So then, when he sets about to ‘Tame’ her,
what is he really trying to do? To make her like her sister Bianca
and all the other women? [That] doesn’t seem likely. To make
her rebellious? She already is that. So what [is Petruchio trying
to accomplish]?
“Therein lies the great question of this play,” claims
Davis. “What is Petruchio really up to? For me, the answer
lies with one last question: Who wins and who loses at the end of
the play? You’ll have to come see to find out the answer to
that one.
“Also,” Jerry Davis says, “everyone should know
we have a great cast for this one, including Nick Berg Barnes, who
is a native Londoner and who has appeared at the RSC [Royal Shakespeare
Company], the Royal Court, and many others. He once appeared in a
play directed by Charlton Heston!”
Burning Coal Theatre Company presents The
Taming of the Shrew Thursday-Saturday,
Sept. 15-17, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 18, at 2 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday,
Sept. 21-24 and Sept. 28-Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 25 and
Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. in the Kennedy Theater in the Progress Energy Center
for the Performing Arts, 2 E. South St., Raleigh, North Carolina.
$10 Wednesday and groups of 10 or more and $16 Thursday-Sunday ($14
students, seniors 65+, and active-duty military personnel), except
Sept. 18th pay-what-you-can performance. 919/834-4001 or http://www.burningcoal.org/Tickets%20for%20SHREW.htm
[inactive 8/07].
Note: The Sept. 17th performance will be audio described.
Burning Coal Theatre Company: http://www.burningcoal.org/.
Shakespeare Resources:
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/shakespeare/ [inactive 3/10].
E-Text: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/ShaTamF.html (First
Folio, 1623) and http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/MobTami.html (Globe
Edition, 1866).
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