THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. To 7 March.
London.
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
by William Shakespeare.
Royal Shakespeare Company at Novello. Theatre To 7 March 2009.
Mon-Sat 7.15pm Mat Thu & Sat 1pm.
Audio-described 3 March.
Captioned 5 March 7.15pm.
Runs 3hr 10min One interval.
TICKETS: 0844 482 5135.
www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk (£1.50 per ticklet booking fee by 'phone & online).
Review: Mark Courtice 18 February 2009.
Nasty Night Out.
That The Taming of the Shrew is an unpleasant play about unpleasant people is a perfectly sensible view, but spending three and a quarter hours in the company of such an appalling bunch as the citizens of Padua are here represented is tough going. There is no mercy, love or fun as everyone lives down to the lowest common denominator.
Conall Morrison's production opens in lap-dancer land and so, emerging from boozy ruckus, Shakespeare's lord (home from hunting) who sets up the play for drunken Christopher Sly is here a madam whose hunting is limited to searching for money on the bodies of her tarts. Quite why she should waste time on this elaborate joke is not clear.
Nothing is said or done without the crudest gag, or frantic mugging. People often speak either in a “funny” (regional) accent or gabble in a way that signifies that director and cast think that what they are saying is nonsense. If you don't trust the play, don't do it.
At the end, though, the production does have the courage of its nasty convictions. "Come, kiss me Kate" is not an invitation, but an order to which she (tamed by unleavened cruelty) must submit. However, in a final image Stephen Boxer's Sly is left stripped, abandoned - the man whose crude fantasy (he plays Petruchio) has fuelled the tale is now reduced to nothing.
Everything is taken at full volume and top speed so it is difficult to say much about the performances except they are loud and fast. The weakness of this approach is best seen in Michelle Gomez's Kate who is fine as the kick-ass (or more often kick-crutch) harpy, often literally air-borne with fury, but less successful in helping us understand what is happening to her when it comes to the "Taming". Her silent devastation at the end is truly moving, though.
The neat set moves from present-day Soho to Elizabethan Padua economically and effectively, often using detailed model buildings. Like much of the production's take on the play, the costumes move rather incoherently between the 21st and 17th centuries.
1st Huntsman: Arsher Ali.
Lady in Waiting: Jade Anouka.
Grumio: Will Beck.
Petruchio: Stephen Boxer.
Tranio: Keir Charles.
Tailor: John Paul Connolly.
3rd Servant: Simon Darwen.
2nd Huntsman: Adrian Decosta.
Vincentio: Leonard Fenton.
Curtis: James Garnon.
Kate: Michelle Gomez.
Lady: Amanda Hadingue.
Baptista: David Hargreaves.
Bianca: Amara Karan.
Hortensio: Sean Kearns.
Biondello: Jack Laskey.
Lucentio: Patrick Moy.
Bartholomew: Will Sharpe.
Gremio: Peter Shorey.
Merchant: Larrington Walker.
Director: Conall Morrison.
Designer: Francis O'Connor.
Lighting: Paul Keogan.
Sound: Mike Compton.
Music: Conor Lineham.
Costume: Joan O'Clery.
Movement: Joyce Henderson.
Fight director: Malcolm Ranson.
Assistant director: Beckie Mills.
2009-02-19 19:51:13