Review: "The Taming Of The Shrew", Columbus Civic Theater

  There are several scholarly conjectures concerning the inspiration for William Shakespeare’s comedy “The Taming Of The Shrew”.  None of them seem to agree.  In contemporary Western Cultural discussions, much ado is made about the misogynist themes. I have my own interpretation.

   The story centers on the relationship between Pretruchio (Amanda Phillips) and Katherine (Jordan Davis). Katherine or Kate, as Pretruchio nicknames her, is the strong-willed, temperamental oldest daughter or Baptista (Tony Ludovico).  Her nasty disposition is known throughout the land.  Thus, there are no suitors for her hand.  Baptista’s younger daughter, Bianca (Madison Garvin Lee), by contrast is mild-mannered and sweet natured.  She has many suitors including the elderly Gremio (Nick Samson), Hortensio (Scott Raymond Clay) and Lucentio (David Lawler). Baptista is adamant that he will not allow Bianca to wed until a suitable match can be made for Katherine. 

    The bold, brash Pretruchio barters with Baptista for a rich dowry, wagering that he can woo and win Katherine. Pretruchio employs a myriad of attitudes and techniques to “tame” Kate, including crooning flattery and solicitousnees, behaving like a mad man,  depriving her of the kind of clothes, food, entertainment and relationships she would prefer. I don’t see Petruchio’s attitude and behavior toward Katherine as misogynist.  Rather I think Shakespeare has provided a brilliant recipe for how to deal with bratty behavior in anybody. Petruchio croons and cajoles, employs humor and a bit of Machiavellian cunning, suggesting that the food and clothing that Kate craves are not good enough for her.  I note that Petruchio never does anything to Kate that would "harm" her.  Rather he wears down her pride and her brattiness with his “tricks”. Thus Petruchio succeeds where his colleagues fail.  In the end a kindly, good-natured Kate gives a long speech about the duty a wife owes to her husband, while Bianca and the widow, (Kris Wilson) who weds Hortensio, are disrespectful to their husbands and take them for granted.

    All the actors in the current Columbus Civic production deliver Shakespeare’s prose with accuracy and authority. Phillips and Davis are especially impressive in their stage antics.  However, I don’t find their relationship credible.  The gender-bending of Pretruchio doesn’t bother me.  Phillips delivers the role of Petruchio nicely.  But because Davis is so much taller than Phillips, I just didn’t believe that Phillips could exercise that kind of dominance. 

   The show is well-paced.  Director Richard Albert has made some excellent choices in cutting the script to make it better fit a two-hour time-frame and the small Columbus Civic stage   Though, there is no set or furnishing to speak of, the walls and doorways are attractive and well-placed. There are some blocking problems in placing that many characters on that tiny stage. In the end, all the characters are standing in static lines and unattractive clumps

    The costumes from Dayton Willison are a mish-mash of things.   

   The excellent line delivery, characterizations and commitments to character make the show worth seeing.