Shrew to Form
Two new productions put gender roles in the spotlight.
The Shakespeare stars align, treating us to two fascinating productions of The Taming Of The Shrew, providing students of theater (and aren't we all?) a rare opportunity to observe how interpretation makes each production of a script unique.
Let's start, however, with the common ground. Both the Lantern Theater Company and Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival perform on thrust stages (seats on three sides) with small audiences (under 150). Both versions boast inventive costume designs, slapstick humor and superb actors, plus inventive directors who make Shrew a love story, not the politically incorrect, misogynist commentary it often becomes.
Baptista has two daughters: gentle Bianca — pursued by hoary suitors Gremio and Hortensio as well as young nobleman Lucentio — and harsh Katherine, the "shrew" feared by all. He won't allow the younger Bianca to marry before Katherine, but Petruchio breaks the stalemate by agreeing to marry and "tame" Kate.
At Lantern, director Ceal Phelan casts eight men, harking back to Shakespeare's time when men played women's roles. It's an interesting, though hardly new, approach, resulting in a surprisingly sincere, unaffected performance by Ben Lloyd as Kate. The effort's larger meaning, however, is unclear, especially since the play's other men playing women overcompensate awkwardly: Keith Conallen's Bianca first appears as a rag doll, and later as Conallen in a silly dress, while bearded Jered McLenigan minces as the Widow in feminine garb.
Men in dresses are a comedy archetype (though I confess I don't get the joke), but an uncomfortable contrast with Lloyd's Kate. Millie Hiibel's costume makes no attempt to hide his maleness, adding measured femininity through a paisley cap (no wig), a paisley corset (no artificial bust), and a hoop skirt's cagelike construct (no skirt hides his male lower half), but the others are played purely for laughs. The production blurs gender lines by making its men somewhat fey (noblemen wear large, frilly ruffled collars over their artfully chosen modern clothes), but when comedic push comes to slapstick shove, this Shrew feels like guys playing girly — except for Lloyd, whose scenes with Tom Byrn's sensitive Petruchio are deliciously sincere.
PSF's Domenick Scudera attempts nothing so lofty. His Shrew owes its romanticism to classic films: Damon Bonetti's dashing Petruchio shows a matinee idol's confidence, and acerbic Teresa Castracane recalls another smart, defiant Kate — Hepburn. When David Raphaely's Lucentio falls for Christie Parker's Bianca, lights twinkle and music chimes; when he has a bright idea, bells ring. Susan Schaeffer's dashing period costumes serve the concept well.
Both productions go for fast and funny, so I wasn't surprised that PSF's includes a man in a dress, too: Petruchio's servant (Dan Higbee) plays a flower girl in pink, but at least the gag fits Petruchio's larger plan of shocking Kate by aping her own immature behavior.
Lantern's Shrew showcases its actors with multiple characters, all identified through Hiibel's endless supply of wonderful hats. Seldom do we see such skilled veteran actors as Frank X, Buck Schirner, John Lopes and Conallen shifting expertly from role to role. Phelan also uses Shakespeare's oft-discarded prologue to introduce the actors in street clothes (interrupting the obligatory curtain speech), and inserts many clever contemporary references and visual puns (while a pair "suck the sweets of sweet philosophy," they're served smoothies).
PSF's larger cast also showcases its versatility, since nearly all actors play very different roles in Othello, in repertory with Shrew. Brian Anthony Wilson's cloying Hortensio shows a gift for comedy not glimpsed in his Othello, while Parker's coquettish Bianca is worlds away from her mature Desdemona.
Both Shrews reveal the complicated Petruchio-Kate love story clearly and genuinely. In their very physical first confrontation, the Lantern's expertly choreographed (by Samantha Bellomo) battle becomes a dance that leaves Kate dizzy. In PSF's version, staged by J. Alex Cordaro, their battle climaxes with tickling. Neither version sugarcoats the conflict between these "two raging fires," and both reveal the play's controversial conclusion — that a wife, Kate explains, is "bound to serve, love and obey" — without eliciting groans from enlightened modern audiences. Phelan's all-male casting stirs nervous squirming and titters from today's supposedly open-minded audience, however, and maybe that's the point: We're still a mess of insecurities and inconsistencies regarding masculinity.
In today's theater, as in Shakes-peare's, male roles far outnumber female, so it's hardly revolutionary to look backward. Might a forward-looking production cast all women, and provide a truly fresh perspective? That's one of theater's many wonders: Someone can always try.
We're fortunate to have two Shrews that respect the play, inspire thought and entertain cleverly. If you've been read this far thinking I'd rate one superior, sorry; the fun here, my fellow students, lies in experiencing both.
The Taming Of The Shrew
Through April 29Lantern Theater CompanySt. Stephens Theatre10th and Ludlow streets, 215-829-9002, www.lanterntheater.org and Through May 20, in rep with OthelloPhiladelphia Shakespeare Festival2111 Sansom St. 215-496-8001, www.phillyshakespeare.org
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