‘The Taming of the Shrew’ @ Plague Mask Players
Photos by Kris Ikejiri
—Jan Farrington
When I heard that Plague Mask Players was rehearsing a 1950s sitcom-style The Taming of the Shrew, my first thought was—why did this good idea take so long to show up?
Of course! Why not? For Taming, the Fifties are a great match: that rule-bound era of smiling homemakers and bread-winning husbands—men who “went to the office” from 9 to 5, had a laugh with the guys, and came home expecting a hot dinner and a wife likewise.
If you grew up then, you know things weren’t quite that cut and dried. There were rumblings. But that certainly was the model, the norm, the ideal for the white American middle class, repeated every day in family shows and sit-coms on the TVs that had suddenly become an ever-present part of our world.
Life had a pattern, we had slots—and if we didn’t slide right into them, trouble might follow. The parallels between that time period and the Italian small-city life of Katharina, Bianca and their family are clear enough—and the play’s traditionally somewhat slapstick style is a perfect pairing with the broad comedy of 1950s shows such as I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners.
Plague Mask’s production is part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s “Elevator Project” (a chance for smaller companies to present work at the Dallas Arts District’s Wyly Theatre). Taming makes use of Plague Mask’s Shakespearean skills, and is a collaboration with Pegasus Theatre, whose Living Black & White™ technique (makeup, costume, and set designs re-create the look of black-and-white movies and TV) add an eye-catching “back in the day” look to the show.
Plus there’s an actual laugh track (who remembers those?) to set the mood—telling us when to giggle or guffaw…and sometimes, laughing all by its lonesome as we sit back and go “hmmm.”
Shea McMillan adapted Shakespeare’s text, putting in a couple of unexpected twists and turns, and there’s been just enough trimming to make the show flow energetically. Taming has, over the last century, become more of a “problem” play for Shakespeare fans; we’re not quite sure any more how to take the lessons about marriage (or even the comedy) Shakespeare is selling.
Taming is, as if you don’t know already, the story of a bunch of guys competing for the “hand” of the town’s sweetest, prettiest girl—but first (because she can’t marry before her older sister) they have to talk some fellow into wooing and winning her sharp-tongued sister…the Shrew.
The story is full of distinct and comical characters, and the lively cast goes all out to make them memorable—from noisy, cock-sure Petruchio (Cody Magouirk) to fierce and unbendable Katharina (Jaclyn Thomas), from sugar-sweet Bianca (Sarah Perkins) to her heart-throb suitor Lucentio (Erik Campos). There are suitors of all kinds—young, old, real, fake--hoping to win Bianca (Ansley Arthur, Salvador Elias and Jake Lawrence Geary), busybody servants, pages, pedants, and tradespeople (Alida Liberman, Samantha Calatozzo Cobb, Salomona Mendoza, Isabelle Culpepper), a lost father (Anthony Magee), and Kate and Bianca’s stressed-out mother. In this version, it’s “Madam” Baptista Minola (Shana Gregory Williams), and in fact several traditionally male roles have been switched to female, no muss, no fuss.
Thomas and Magouirk are forceful and a bit scary as the battling Katharina and Petruchio—she never stops glaring, even when she seems to cooperate with Mother’s wishes or Petruchio’s pretty rough methods. He laughs a lot, but has a frozen smile and a way of holding on tight that nobody else seems to see—or want to. Williams is looking to get rid of her daughters (even weepy Bianca, her favorite). She loves them and all, but this nonsense has gone on too long. Make her an offer she can’t refuse
To get his foot in the door, the rich and noble Lucentio (Campos, looking just like a ‘50s pop idol) lets his servant (Ansley Arthur) take his place as a suitor—while he gets close to Bianca as a tutor. He isn’t the only one to try that gambit. As lovelorn neighbor Gremio, Geary is very funny with his slanted old-man marching, and Cobb is hilarious as busy Biondello, whose high voice and pitter-pat steps don’t stop her from getting there first with the news.
As the play moves along, we try to decide which if the many “angles” on the Kate-Petruchio story we’re seeing—and how much of their continuing glares and growling to take seriously. You can practically feel Shakespeare in the mix, still wrestling with how it should all come out. But for me, Plague Mask’s angle—and its take on the never-ending story of men v. women—seems right on the nose.
WHEN: March 8-17, 2024
WHERE: Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre (6th floor), Dallas Arts District
WEB: plaguemaskplayers.org
