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'Taming of the Shrew'
Produced by Classics in the Park at the Hillcrest Theater for the Arts, the play features Michael Lindsay as Petruchio and Lalanya Gunn as Katherine. Petruchio is a brash young man looking to marry a rich wife. He sets his sights on Katherine, the wealthy Baptista's elder daughter, who has a reputation as being sourtongued, illtempered and violently disagreeable toward anyone and everyone. Petruchio's interest in Katherine comes as welcome news to the variety of suitors for the hand of her sweet younger sister, Bianca, because it's Baptista's will that Bianca may not be married before Katherine. The play focuses on Petruchio's attempts at "taming" Katherine by becoming even more contrary and controlling than she is. There has been much discussion and study over the years as to Petruchio and Katherine's true personalities. Is Petruchio being misogynistic by submitting Katherine to indignities such as starvation and lack of sleep to reduce her resistance? Or is he cunning enough to recognize that the end justifies the means, and that his controlling treatment will result in her becoming his compliant, "trained," if you will, wife? Regardless of how you view the characters' motivations, Michael Lindsay's Petruchio is a hoot. With eyes blazing and his long hair tied in a ponytail, the swashbuckling Lindsay tears across the stage like a cyclone, bellowing his tough love as a confused Katherine finds herself unable to inflict him with her foul temper. Lindsay dominates the play with his performance, and rightly so, since he's acted on stage and in television for three decades. As Katherine, Lalanya Gunn, who has appeared in other Theater on the Hill productions (most recently, Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado"), begins her portrayal with a fiery intensity, which, through her interaction with her unconventionally amorous suitor, is reduced to confusion and then finally to sweetness and submission. In the end, Petruchio has Katherine admitting to him that if he says the sun is the moon, then so be it. Her transformation into a "tamed wife" is complete. The two actually become devoted to each other by play's end. The story's secondary plot concerns Bianca, played by Megan Crockett, also a veteran of the Gilbert and Sullivan arm of the theater. A fine singer, Crockett gets to briefly show off her lovely soprano during the play, but she is basically Baptista's sweeter-natured daughter, who has to decide among her suitors. She eventually settles on Lucentio, played by understudy Louis Moran (doing a fine job on short notice). Lucentio's method of courting Bianca involves disguising his servant Tranio (Mary Carrig) as himself, while he masquerades as Bianca's tutor in order to gain access to Baptista's household. The other actors in the ensemble, although clearly not as skilled or experienced as Lindsay and Gunn, hold up their ends well. This is especially true of Suzanne Tobin as Baptista, and Jim Bullock, who does a brief, hilarious bit as Lucentio's phony father. The play is well-directed by Irene Silbert, who made sure to include appropriate Reinaissance music to bookend the production. A little better care could have been taken, however, with regard to the few props used in the show. As musical instruments were called for in several instances, the best the prop master could come up with to represent a lute was one of those cheap plastic blow-up electric guitars that are often used as giveaways at bar mitzvah parties.
Shakespeare is offered so seldom these days, one can't argue with any production that tries as hard as this one, which proves to be an excellent introduction to one of The Bard's lighter works. The limited run of "Taming of the Shrew" plays Saturdays at 8 p.m. through August 9. For reservations, call the Hillcrest Center box office at (805) 381-1246 or visit www.hillcrestarts.com. |
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