Reviewed by Jerry Kraft
The
Seattle Shakespeare Company has a reputation for doing very good work, and this particular
production, first mounted in 2003, has been much talked about. The idea of
doing "The Taming of the Shrew" with an all-male cast seems, at first blush, like
pure gimmickry, and my fear was that it would simply be a camp travesty,
trivializing the more troubling dynamics of the play and mocking the entire
notion of gender politics. But this production has a considerably more serious
intention, and is a lot more fun.
Because
the actors never disguise their masculinity, but rather simply play character,
it emphasizes the power relationships without the contemporary distraction of
our own biases toward female sexuality as appearance. Beyond that, director Stephanie
Shine has loaded
the production with so much good-humored and often silly business that social
politics is overshadowed by simple entertainment. It suggests that this might
have been the way Shakespeare himself played to the groundlings while his
weightier themes engaged the more sophisticated patrons. Beyond that, it
clearly reminds us that this is a comedy, and that for all its contemporary
resonance, it's really just a contest in which a struggle for domination
becomes a puzzle with an obvious answer, but not an obvious solution. An
excellent and energetic cast balances the dramatic action and the physical
nonsense. The early part of the second act seemed a bit strained to me, but
overall this was an intriguing and surprisingly satisfying interpretation, and
one that provides a fresh perspective on a somewhat over-familiar, frequently
uncomfortable play.
George
Mount has a wiry
toughness and resiliency that made Kate a formidable but still vulnerable
character. Wrapping a skirt around himself or adopting some female gesture
never compromised his masculinity, in the same way that acting more
"ladylike" never changes Kate's essential character. Against Michael
Patton's virile
and commanding Petruchio, these two battled in much the way that a veteran
drill sergeant might battle a particularly recalcitrant recruit. That both were
men made some of the play's physical combat feel more like a tussle or a
spirited wrestling match and less like actual abuse. Likewise, the deprivation
of food and rest felt less cruel than simply harsh. The final effect of
removing the physical reality of women being women in the play was to
accentuate the notion of marriage as a financial and social transaction,
without our inescapable expectation of love and romance.
Of
the other characters, Beethoven Oden was particularly effective as the fair Bianca, which,
given his muscular physique and handsome face, made his effusively
"girlish" gestures and emotional outbursts all the more obviously
superficial and contrived. Keith Dahlgren made his Baptista one of the few seriously
grounded characters in the play, and managed to create a social order and
stability for Kate's intransigence to threaten. I thought Timothy Horner was outstanding in the purely
comic role of Grumio, playing an almost cartoonish buffoon with energy,
excellent comic delivery, and good-natured invention. Chris Laxamano also brought enthusiasm and
charm to Biondello, and the remainder of the company moved in and out of
characters and ensembles with ease. One clear effect of this interpretation was
to create an ensemble of players who felt like a band of pals having a lark and
vastly enjoying one another's company. The sheer joy of performance for this
company was obvious.
I
was less thrilled with the physical production. John Kirschenbaum used an essentially bare stage
with some unfinished ramps that allowed for fair variety in the physical
movement, but didn't really create any sense of place. The play began with the
stage masked off by yellow police tape, but why and what that was supposed to
make us feel is a mystery to me. Likewise, the costume pieces, meant to be
minimal and simply functional, worked well enough, but without much distinction
or invention. The use of lots of contemporary and classic pop music added witty
commentary and was well performed by the cast.
This
production emphasizes by reduction how much of our contemporary sense of gender
roles is based on physical appearance, on dress and faces and bodies, and how
much of true gender politics is really about power, and about how one person or
a society might apply it to others. For all that serious consideration, this
show was a huge amount of fun and delightful in its pure entertainment. Yes,
this is a play that always raises questions and generates some discussion of
whether it is misogyny, satire, farce or political statement, but in the end
perhaps it's much simpler than any of that. Perhaps it is about how we, as men
and women, engage, dominate, submit, ally or oppose one another in our search
for meaningful relationships. Or maybe it's just a romp.