This is Shakespeare on strong espresso, as if to reflect the Italian setting.
Movement is the keynote. All the characters are in constant motion. Every spoken phrase in this Taming of the Shrew is accompanied by multiple gestures and facial expressions. The players project strongly except for one restful moment in the second half where Petruchio softly confesses his plan for making his marriage work.
This high-energy approach creates an evening of fun, yet it comes with a price. Katherine (Joanna Liao) works so aggressively that she comes across as cruel. Kate should be independent and sharp-tongued but not a mean woman. She does not wink at us, as Tracey Ullman winningly did in a Central Park production in 1990. And Liao fails to display any of the underlying insecurity that must have caused Katherine to be non-conformist.
It’s a joy to see the body movements, the extensions of arms, the turning of hands, the pointing of feet—a plethora of visual touches that enlivened the production. And the show ends with an intoxicating tango that displayed the interplay of aggression and seduction.
The setting, of course, is Padua, where Petruchio (J Hernandez) comes to “wive it wealthily.” Kate’s father, Baptista (Nathan Foley) has a fortune and the incentive to offer a large bounty because he knows that Kate frightens off most men. Petruchio tells Kate that he will marry her whether she agrees or not, then forces her to leave for his house in Verona before the wedding feast. Petruchio continues to tame Katherine by keeping her from eating or sleeping for days. They push and pull until both realize that they’ve met their match.
Hernandez is engagingly comic as Petruchio. Genial while being firm, he also shows a sensitive side. He does double-duty by also playing a loutish drunk in a prologue that’s usually omitted, and in an imaginative epilogue. Liao captivates, too, in the later scenes, and her “I am ashamed that women are so simple / To offer war where they should kneel for peace” is moving.
The subplot is well done with Kate’s sister, sweet Bianca (K.O. DelMarcelle), not allowed to marry until after her older sibling. DelMarcelle is a revelation as she played the ultra-feminine Bianca and doubles as the young page boy Biondello. She transfigures swiftly from one to another, and DelMarcelle also was responsible for the choreography. Dave Johnson as Petruchio's servant Grumio proves especially memorable in an ensemble where every performer creates multiple personalities.
