Review: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Shakespeare’s Globe
Photo credit: Tristram Kenton
A sign of a successful play is in the way it takes its audience on a journey. Where a story begins cannot be where it ends and the same goes for the audience’s emotional emotional experience. In Shakespeare’s Globe latest production for their summer series, The Taming of The Shrew, we can only report that the audience in this instance does not just go on a journey but, for want of a better word, a trip (no illegal substances required). Think pastels, giant teddy bear monuments, puppets and mascot costumes all shrouded in a dark context resembling a psychedelic cartoon.
The Taming of the Shrew, although a comedy, highlights the problematic distortion between the roles of women and men during Shakespearian times. One of the many reasons the Bard’s work has been and will be re-staged continually is because of their themes which transcend the historical context they were first conceived in. In this latest version of the play, the Globe have made a bold exposition specifically in response to the theme of domestic violence.
The plot of the play is set in Padua where we are introduced to the wealthy merchant Baptiste and his two eligible daughters. He declares that his youngest daughter, Bianca, who is very beautiful, cannot marry until her older, sharp tongued sister Katharina does. Bianca, in the meantime, is being pursued by Gremio and Hortensio, although her own desires begin to go elsewhere entirely. Katharina is subsequently courted by Petruccio who marries her for her money and goes on a quest to groom the reluctant Katharina to become a submissive wife to him. The play has always been controversial due to the cohesive control and manipulative behaviour that Petruccio displays towards Katherina, which shows a normalisation of the expected hierarchy between a woman and man.
Director Jude Christian has made a deliberate choice to challenge why we laugh. At first, the caricature and farcical interpretation of the characters is disarming, so much so the more traditionalist might be offended at this offering. However, the conviction and relentlessness of the kitsch aesthetics and over the top physicality eventually overpowers so that you can’t look away and laughter erupts out of the absurd presentation of humanity. Do we feel superior or do we see ourselves, something we know in the heightened reality? The world of the clown and Buffon put us in this position to unconsciously contemplate this. The first half sits lighter in many ways, making it hard to take anything seriously but after the interval, things take a disturbing turn as the abusive relationship between Katharina and Petruccio develops, yet we still laugh. This is clever crafting from Christian who has been brave enough to potentially put their audience off side before shifting the tone when we see the bleak treatment of Katharina at the hands of the man she had no choice in having to love.
In Katharina’s final, famous speech, when she tells of her transformation into an obedient wife and why wives should always obey their husbands, is a sobering moment. Thalissa Teixeira, who plays the feisty daughter, is heartbreaking in this moment. Teixeira maintains a sceptical air throughout the play, to the point that she appears to be judging the play itself, making this moment his harder.
Aesthetically, the play is over stimulating in both a positive and confusing way. A prominent convention also used throughout is puppetry, which is interesting but probably the weakest element. The puppets need more rigour in their execution and unclear designs make them difficult to engage with, especially since there are so many different types of puppets used. For example, two giant faces strapped onto on the torsos of Hortensio (Lizzie Hopley) and Gremio (Nigel Barrett) are largely performed with well by the actors but unfortunately, the puppets themselves lack any character making it difficult to maintain their illusion. Likewise, Bianca manipulates a smaller more lifelike puppet to resemble herself at times but it’s when she is without the puppet, the performer Sophie Mercell is more engaging. The lack of consistency in the use of the puppets is also too conceptual to be understood clearly. Generally, the actors themselves are capable to evoke the absurdness of the world without the need for them. The music in the work also helps to create an unstable and distorted fabric for the world, however, it is a little too messy on occasion, masking some of the text but largely effective.
This is not a production for the purist and it is very possible you will love it or hate it, but it will get a reaction out of you either way, which makes it a valuable pice of theatre. This is one of the more provocative adaptations of The Taming of The Shrew that you are likely to see. On leaving the theatre, a moment of reflection on what was just witnessed might be needed for more than one reason.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Stephanie Osztreicher
The Taming of the Shrew plays at Shakespeare’s Globe until 26 October, with further info here.
