The Denver Center’s production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew brilliantly intermingles Poodle Skirts, Presley, Ponderosa Ranch and Padua to create an unlikely setting for its hilarious take on the Bard’s politically incorrect play from 1594. The love match comes just in time for Valentine's Day.
In Shakespeare’s day, a “shrew” was a derogatory term for a feisty woman with a sharp tongue and willful attitude. He embodies her in Katherine (Kate), the eldest daughter of a wealthy merchant in Padua, Italy.
Big-talking cowboy Petruchio comes to town, and intrigued by the beautiful but stubborn Kate, sets out to marry and tame her like a wild horse. He sees her as his “chattel” and “ox.” He states: “ For I am he am born to tame you, Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate conformable as other household Kates.” A battle of the sexes ensues, not without a certain amount of roughhousing short of physical abuse.
Their volatile relationship culminates with marriage and Kate’s ultimate surrender to Petruchio. This she states in a pivotal scene in the last act when she gives her famous speech on why wives should succumb to their spouses.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe. . .
She adds that women should make their temperaments like their bodies: soft and weak and smooth.
But in the end, who really wins? Is it Petruchio basking in Kate’s speech, or does Kate gain ultimate control, finally winning Petruchio’s respect because she makes him think he has tamed her?
Two other courtships, masquerading identities and character confusion fill in the rest of the play that is set in the 1950s. Director Kent Thompson choose an era with a clear distinction of roles between the sexes “when men were anything they wanted to be and women were. . .well, housewives.” He sees the battling couple as “two people with large than life personalities who fight their way through their romance and end up being in love.”
Thompson cleverly incorporates New Jersey Italian accents and Texas cowboy drawls for the characters. The Denver Center actors—led by Kathleen McCall and John G. Preston—clearly delight in their roles, giving over-the-top Commedia Dell’ Arte performances.
A medley of 50’s oldies with Italian themes playing before the show opens gives you a hint of what’s to come.
The Taming of the Shrew plays at The Stage Theatre at the Denver Center for Performing Arts through February 26. For tickets, call 303-893-4100 or visit www.denvercenter.org.
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