Theater review<\/h2>\n
If you\u2019re unsure how you feel about Shakespeare\u2019s morally difficult and dubiously comedic play \u201cThe Taming of the Shrew,\u201d the clever but muddled adaptation now running at Union Arts Center probably won\u2019t clarify things.<\/p>\n
For those who don\u2019t remember \u201dShrew\u201d<\/a> very well (or who remember the perfect 1999 film adaptation \u201c10 Things I Hate About You\u201d too well), let me walk you through it.<\/p>\n Lucentio (Ayo Tushinde) and his servant Tranio (Pilar O’Connell) arrive in Padua and are ready to meet all the ladies, until Lucentio espies the beautiful, young Bianca (Rachel Guyer-Mafune) and falls in love. But, oh no, Bianca\u2019s rich dad Baptista (Jasmine Joshua) decrees no one can \u201chave access to\u201d Bianca (ew) until someone takes her shrewish older sister Katherine (Jocelyn Maher) off his hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n Enter Petruchio (Arjun Pande), who has \u201dcome to wive it wealthily in Padua\u201d and agrees to help Lucentio out by marrying Katherine for her money. Petruchio tells Baptista that Katherine wants to marry him (not true, though on first sight they clearly found each other smoking hot), then begins his campaign to torture her into submission. He embarrasses her at their wedding by showing up in a beer helmet and jorts, then takes her to his house, where he denies her food and sleep until she agrees with everything he says. Comedy!\u00a0<\/p>\n In the meantime, Lucentio and his old friend Hortensio (Melanie Godsey), who is also in love with Bianca, disguise themselves as tutors so they can woo her. One of them wins, identities are revealed, there are a few more weddings. Don\u2019t worry about it too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n As directed by Bobbin Ramsey (formerly of Washington Ensemble Theatre<\/a> and The Horse in Motion<\/a>), who co-adapted the script with Gabrielle Hoyt, \u201cShrew\u201d leans into the script\u2019s absurdity \u2014 Baptista leads Bianca and Kate around on honest-to-God leashes \u2014 and away from its innate odiousness.<\/p>\n While the original script frames the play as though it\u2019s being performed for a drunken man, this version frames the story with performances from Jocelyn and Arjun<\/span>. Our lead actors, in character as themselves, chat to the audience before the show, assuring you (in scripted dialogue) that they\u2019re there to \u201cprovide a little bit of context\u201d before breaking down into cliched bickering: He interrupts her, she gets frustrated, he gets mad that she’s frustrated, etc. Another pre-show gag gives the actors a chance to gaslight Arjun before he, as Petruchio, does the same to Katherine.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ramsey\u2019s work has long displayed an affinity and facility for the bizarre, and \u201cShrew\u201d gives her a lot to work with. Half the characters operate in disguise, they’re all named Grumio, Gremio, Tranio, Licio, Cambio \u2014 the absurdity is baked in.\u00a0<\/p>\n Headlines, puzzles and death notices from the Valley delivered to your inbox 7 a.m. daily.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n To make things even more confusing, this seven-actor cast supplements its ranks with a few identical hand puppets (designed by Annett Mateo) in smaller roles, which are all voiced like parrots and impossible to tell apart. That the production knows and plays up how convoluted this play is doesn\u2019t make it any less confusing for an audience.<\/p>\n More specificity in many of the performances (most of the actors play multiple roles) would go a long way in terms of comedic and narrative legibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aside from great, emotionally detailed performances from Maher and Pande (and an impressive pinch-hitter performance from Godsey, who stepped in at the last minute), many of the characters felt as flat and cartoonish as Parmida Ziaei\u2019s exuberant sets, reminiscent of a midcentury game show.\u00a0<\/p>\n But even the excellent individual elements never gelled into a coherent whole, and I left with so many questions. Why is Hortensio a Texan? Why do so many period pieces make someone eat an apple with a knife? Why did Union Arts Center program this play only to spend so much time apologizing for it?<\/p>\n \u201cThe Taming of the Shrew\u201d isn\u2019t just a problematic play \u2014 the problem is the play<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In her director’s note, Ramsey points out that Shakespeare was exploring but not condoning the gender dynamics of the 1590s (when the play was written), and that the play was divisive even in its day.<\/p>\n Shakespeare is open to endless interpretation, but watching the brilliant, spirited Katherine diminish into submission says plenty, and that\u2019s right there in the text. All gender is a performance on some level, but a successful performance of womanhood \u2014 and of obedient white womanhood in particular \u2014 has historically meant safety.<\/p>\n