Much ado about Taming of the Shrew

Frank: The Murphys Creek Theatre season opener, "The Taming of the Shrew," is a winner, I'd say.

Grace: Agreed. It almost captures the magic of the Theater's first - and best, in my estimation - production, "A Midsummer Night's Dream." In fact, the pre-intermission portion of Shrew is as good as, if not better than, Dream. The second half drags a little, but - dare I say it? That could be Shakespeare's doing.

The plot might need a wee bit of explanation. In nutshell, Katherine (the shrew) and Bianca (the demure) are daughters of the rich gentleman, Baptista, elegantly played by Mike Clarke. Gremio, Hortensio, and Lucentio are Bianca's suitors. However, Baptista won't allow Bianca to marry until Katherine is married. Hortensio persuades his friend, Petruchio, to woo Katherine, using Baptista's wealth as an inducement. Petruchio meets Katherine, whom he calls Kate, and the battle to tame her begins. In the meantime, Bianca's suitors engage in a complicated scheme involving role switching. Predictably, Petruchio eventually marries Kate and Lucentio marries Bianca. As a consolation, Hortensio marries a widow, but poor old Gremio gives up and, in this production, takes up knitting!

Frank: As to the sisters, Bianca becomes a less demure and submissive, and by the end has drifted towards Kate's original characteristics - the shrewing of the tame? And Kate, although not coming close to Bianca's original saccharinity, is definitely more domesticated.

Grace: This production is set in the 1920s, and the music and costumes are appropriate to that era. Many of the male characters adopt Bronx tough-guy accents and the Mafia look. I must also commend Mark Wilson for his outstanding set, with the Italian look, the bridge and the pond, complete with croaking frog. The frog probably isn't part of Mark's design - or is it? Then there is the visual pun of the uke being substituted for the lute, which was called for in Shakespeare's script.

Frank: And then there is all the carefully choreographed roughhousing, with masters beating up servants and Kate beating up just about everybody, including her sister, who become acquainted with the pond as a result. As for the golf club parrying, it's a perfect complement to the verbal parrying.

Grace: Singling out a few actors from this strong cast for special commendation is not an easy task. But let's start with Brian Harrower as Grumio, servant to Petruchio. His strong voice and physicality set the standard for the rest of the cast. Kathleen Ennis as Kate is a shrew to be avoided. Her posture, that of a cat about to pounce, is absolutely appropriate. Jack Souza's Petruchio as a shrew tamer had the cunning and hysical presence of a lion tamer. Todd Thomas as Tranio keeps the plot moving along and the audience delighted, and Jacqueline Hillsman's Bianca is the epitome of a '20s flapper.

Frank: Keeping all this going is not an easy task. Laurence Olivier said he could perform at 75 percent for tragedy, but for comedy he had to be at 110 percent. John Cleese, who has successfully been making people laugh for several decades, has said as much himself. Good writing - even Shakespeare's - is one thing, but then the actors have to bring it to comedic life, timing being the crucial element, not only in the spoken word, but also in the gestures and facial expressions. With that in mind, the Shrew company did an outstanding job of bringing mere words to comedic life.

Grace: The theater's outdoor setting provides a night under the stars, maybe with the moon wandering across the sky. The bard himself would have loved it. Whatever you do, make sure you attend at least one production this summer. Bring a picnic, buy a good bottle of good Stevenot wine, bring a jacket and hat,  and - just in case - a blanket or two. Saturday night was very chilly. Come prepared for the occasional mosquito, and sit back and enjoy.

Frank: Oh, by the way, it took two hours and 45 minutes for this taming - a lot shorter time than it takes most men to tame most women. That's usually a lifetime!

Grace: I'll save my response for a private discussion.

Frank and Grace: We have seen many of the Murphys Creek productions, some very good and some not so good. We're all thumbs about "Taming of the Shrew," thumbs up, that is. Four thumbs up for this production!