Shoreside Theatre presents a rollicking take on the Bard’s ode to the joys of misogyny, The Taming of the Shrew, with an all-female cast, set in the idyllic Pumphouse Theatre amphitheatre. A perfect summer evening of thought-provoking entertainment, from a superbly cast community theatre ensemble who bring the classic play to life.
Thought-provoking. Yes, in all sorts of ways. Why perform it all? The shrew is starved, deprived of sleep, dressed in rags and psychologically abused – and ultimately gives in to Stockholm Syndrome, praising her tormenter and detailing how she is innately inferior and rightly should submit to her master. Surely we have evolved as culture to the point where this kind of abuse is roundly condemned and no longer seen as amusing, or entertaining.
But then, the entire play is a farce, full of intrigue and deception, so why focus on one troubling aspect, when there are so many others to choose from? And who knows what was going through the young Shakespeare’s mind as he penned this piece? After all, he married at eighteen, to an already pregnant Anne Hathaway who was eight years his senior. Perhaps there is an element of personal fantasy woven his handling of the shrew.
And then there’s the historical context. Etc.
So it comes to this; the widow Baptista (Carmen Adams) has two daughters of marriageable age, each with a generous dowry. The elder, Katerina (Matilda Chua) is dark, plain, bad-tempered and foul-mouthed; and she refuses to marry. The younger, Bianca (Alice Dibble), is a sweet, curvaceous, blue-eyed blonde, pursued eagerly by several suitors. Baptista (presumably aghast at being left alone with Katerina for the rest of her life,) has declared that Bianca may not marry until her sister is wed.
The rivals for Bianca’s hand, are therefore driven into an alliance to find someone willing to marry Katerina. The only one they can find is the recent recipient of a modest fortune. Petruchio (Heather Warne) is a drunken lout who mistreats his servant Grumio (Lizzie Morris, who steals every scene!) and verbally abuses pretty much everyone else. But when he learns how much money Katerina’s dowry will bring him, he agrees to marry her. That sorted, the rivals engage in various acts of deception to convince Baptista they alone should be given the honour. But of course, true love conquers all.
The deployment of an all-female cast is fairly common these days in productions of Taming of the Shrew; much like other marginalised peoples taking ownership of works where the ruling class has misrepresented them. It is an opportunity to provide nuance and additional context. But director Mags Delaney-Moffatt has opted to play the story ‘straight’ from Shakespeare’s script with a few subtle underpinnings belying the words, most notably in Katerina’s responses to Petruchio’s irrational behaviour, indicating (at least to me) that she is not crazy and that she is a human being with agency and clear thought. And this makes her submission speech particularly heartbreaking.
Generally, I find it difficult to critique performances in community theatre, one cannot expect professional level performances from amateur actors. But in this case, so many of the cast delivered exceptional performances, bring their characters to life. Lizzie Morris (Grumio) and Matilda Chua (Katerina) belong on the stage, and Heather Warne’s Petruchio was played to comic perfection.
The stage is a simple affair, evoking theatres of the period, with actors moving through the amphitheatre style seating, creating an intimacy with the audience. It was also quite nice that the Pumphouse provided cushions for patrons to park our bums on!
Truly delightful Shakespeare in the Park.
