Taming of the Shrew
Sydney Opera House
Until 21 November
Tickets $30-60
Bookings (02) 9250 7777
Critic’s Rating 4/10
As published in the Sun Herald
It’s amazing that a production starring some of this country’s finest female stage performers could be so badly conceived. On the page, the idea of having an all-female cast performing in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, looks interesting.
It certainly has sex appeal. The misogynist Petruchio (Jeanette Cronin) who has been historically played by swaggering Don Juan leads (Kenneth Branagh, Peter O’Toole, Michael Siberry to name a few) tames the wild and disobedient Kate (Lotte St Clair).
It may have worked if the women were mocking the male species through caricatures but instead director Marion Potts hurtles head first like a train-wreck into a mock-lesbian world that is confused, predictable and unwittingly sacrifices the beauty of the text.
Setting the action in an atypical leagues club Chinese Restaurant doesn’t help. It certainly looks good as the lights go down, with its glitter balls and karaoke machine, but as soon as the characters enter the space in their mixture of '30s, '70s, '80s, '90s and contemporary clothing, you start to feel dizzy, unable to give the setting any context or meaning.
In one corner you have Kate’s wealthy father Baptista (Sandy Gore) playing cards and acting like a Sopranos mafia boss next to her slightly goofy mob. In the other corner you have a Sly Fox Hotel/The L Word love tryst of the butch Lucentio (Luisa Hastings Edge) and Tranio (Ksenja Logos) wooing their way to Baptista’s beautiful daughter Bianca (Emily Rose Brennan).
Sadly, this all-female Shrew is full of colour and possibilities but in the end it’s not thought through. The contemporary parallels shift so much that neither the actors nor the audience can focus in on what is actually being said. A perfect example of this is in the final scene when Kate delivers one of the most beautiful Shakespearean passages written for a female character to be then upstaged by Bianca for a cheap laugh.
All the performers fulfil their roles as well as they can, although some of the younger performers could learn some stillness from their older colleagues. The stand-out among them is Judy Farr, who steals the show with barely a line to say as the widow and Biondello.
Bell Shakespeare is a unique company in that they tour extensively through the country and caters to both schools and the general public. Creatively this can be a blessing – at other times it can be a burden as production teams try to find "contemporary parallels" to make Shakespeare more palatable. This Shrew is one of the latter.
Sydney Opera House
Until 21 November
Tickets $30-60
Bookings (02) 9250 7777
Critic’s Rating 4/10
As published in the Sun Herald
It’s amazing that a production starring some of this country’s finest female stage performers could be so badly conceived. On the page, the idea of having an all-female cast performing in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, looks interesting.
It certainly has sex appeal. The misogynist Petruchio (Jeanette Cronin) who has been historically played by swaggering Don Juan leads (Kenneth Branagh, Peter O’Toole, Michael Siberry to name a few) tames the wild and disobedient Kate (Lotte St Clair).
It may have worked if the women were mocking the male species through caricatures but instead director Marion Potts hurtles head first like a train-wreck into a mock-lesbian world that is confused, predictable and unwittingly sacrifices the beauty of the text.
Setting the action in an atypical leagues club Chinese Restaurant doesn’t help. It certainly looks good as the lights go down, with its glitter balls and karaoke machine, but as soon as the characters enter the space in their mixture of '30s, '70s, '80s, '90s and contemporary clothing, you start to feel dizzy, unable to give the setting any context or meaning.
In one corner you have Kate’s wealthy father Baptista (Sandy Gore) playing cards and acting like a Sopranos mafia boss next to her slightly goofy mob. In the other corner you have a Sly Fox Hotel/The L Word love tryst of the butch Lucentio (Luisa Hastings Edge) and Tranio (Ksenja Logos) wooing their way to Baptista’s beautiful daughter Bianca (Emily Rose Brennan).
Sadly, this all-female Shrew is full of colour and possibilities but in the end it’s not thought through. The contemporary parallels shift so much that neither the actors nor the audience can focus in on what is actually being said. A perfect example of this is in the final scene when Kate delivers one of the most beautiful Shakespearean passages written for a female character to be then upstaged by Bianca for a cheap laugh.
All the performers fulfil their roles as well as they can, although some of the younger performers could learn some stillness from their older colleagues. The stand-out among them is Judy Farr, who steals the show with barely a line to say as the widow and Biondello.
Bell Shakespeare is a unique company in that they tour extensively through the country and caters to both schools and the general public. Creatively this can be a blessing – at other times it can be a burden as production teams try to find "contemporary parallels" to make Shakespeare more palatable. This Shrew is one of the latter.
5 comments:
I went to see this last night, and left in the interval because it was too painful to sit through anymore.
What didn't you enjoy about it Anon?
It seemed at moments to be bordering on pantomime, and I was really disappointed that the aspects that should have been different and interesting weren't used to any advantage. I was waiting to slip into a state of mind when I forgot that it was women playing men, and then to be reminded with a surprise, but it never happened.
My friends and I came out wondering if we had really missed something in the performance, as the reviews had been so good.
I feel quite nasty saying this, but it felt like a poor school play. That lingers.
Are the reports coming out of the Us correct? Is it actually possible that the STC was stupid enough to allow Soderbergh to go ahead with a play (Tot Mom) about a child murder that is still before the courts? Who is running that place?
Just made it to Shrew last night with expectations set super low(thanks to your review and comments of my friends)! The first half was not nearly as awful as I thought. Kate was strong. The set was an abomination and the karaoke annoying. And, you'd think that the all-female cast would do something interesting with such a sexist play - but no.
Second half was soooooooo awful, I was tempted to push past everyone in my row and flee the theatre. Those maidens! Ugh!
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