The Daily Tar HeelMonday, April 17, 19897
ayMakers presents daring battle between sexes
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Bernard Addison (left), Lisa Benedict and Matt Ryan
And the groom wore bicycle shorts.
Or at least that's what Petruchio,
professional shrew tamer extraordi
naire dons as wedding-day apparel
in PlayMakers Repertory Company's
(PRC) production of Shakespeare's
"The Taming of the Shrew," which
opened this weekend.
And such costuming is only one
of the liberties taken with the Bard's
classic romantic comedy in the hands
of director David Hammond. But
while it tends toward . overkill in
places, Hammond's contemporary
approach to the play is surprisingly
effective, finding a comic Os angle
on almost every aspect of the play
while still giving the playwright his
due. If nothing else, the production
is commendable for its daring.
The action begins with Christopher
Sly, a drunkard who is tricked into
believing he's a lord through the
elaborate machinations of a mischie
vous Italian count. This induction
scene, which is usually omitted,
establishes the play-within-a-play
structure Hammond uses with
great success to set the main plot
within the framework of a dream.
And so, with a mystical dream
sequence transition, we find ourselves
in modern-day Italy, where the ladies
wear miniskirts and the young lords
cruise in on roller skates. No, Wil
liam, we're not in the 1 9th century
anymore: Here the servants range
from denim-appareled tough guys to
old-family hit men complete with
sunglasses and dark, tailored suits.
Instead of carrying rapiers, these
gentlemen pack Berettas.
Enter Petruchio (played by guest
artist Nick Kaledin), the classic good
looking guy with an attitude. His goal
is simple: He has come "to wive it
Cara Bonnett
Theater
wealthily if wealthily, then happily,
in Padua." When he hears of the
notorious Katharina, his curiosity is
peaked, despite the scare tactics of
his pals. Here is a man who appre
ciates a challenge.
But Katherina, played by guest
artist Leslie Hicks, is not your
ordinary shrew. Hicks refuses to rely
on farcical cliche for her depiction of
the sharp-tongued Kate, and instead
plays her with the conviction of a
strong, multi-dimensional woman.
Especially helpful in the develop
ment of Kate's character is the
production's perspective on the
father-child relationship between
Baptista and his daughters. Tobias
Andersen plays a concerned if
somewhat browbeaten father who
cant hide his glee when he finally
finds a sucker who's willing to marry
his oldest daughter.
And we gain new insight into
Kate's shrewish behavior when we
realize she has been forced to compete
with her sister Bianca, the epitome
of feminine shallowness, all her life.
But the focus of the play is the
interaction between Kate and Petru
chio. The leading lovers' introduction
is charged from the first, with an
unhurried, hostile silence crackling
between them from the moment Kate
makes, her entrance. Once they find
their words, the exchange escalates
quickly into sporting verbal sword
play, the skillful thrust and parry of
two aptly-matched opponents.
Nowhere is Petruchio's tenderness
toward Kate more apparent than in
this first encounter. Kaledin's Petru
chio is a smooth but devilish seducer,
alternating gentle words with biting
sarcasm, but never overplaying the
macho "I'm going to tame you,
woman" image.
Unfortunately, Kaledin does not
fare so well in the second act.. The
hint of tenderness from the pair's
initial encounter disappears with the
unveiling of an unreasonable, harshly ,
demanding Petruchio, whose efforts
to prove his own shrewishness to all
of Padua, as well as to his own new
bride, seem rather too extreme.
Kate, on the other hand, appears
to have lost much of her spirit
somewhere between the first skirmish
and the altar. It's a role reversal of
the least explainable sort, for by the
time Kate delivers her oft-debated
final speech, it's completely up in the
air as to who's doing the taming and
who has been tamed. But then, isn't
that the story of every modern
romance anyway?
In pointed contrast to the entic
ingly adversarial relationship of
Petruchio and Kate is the conven
tional boy-chases-girl, boy-gets-girl,
relationship of Lucretio
(Matt Ryan) and Bianca (Lisa Bene
dict). The enamored Lucretio finagle
himself into a position as Bianca's
tutor. Despite competition from half
the eligible bachelors in Italy (and the
geeky intellectual persona he adopts
to get past her father), he manages
to both woo and win a bikini-clad
Bianca during an afternoon at the
beach, where the two alternately
spend their time reciting Latin and
rubbing suntan lotion on each other.
Also notable in the production is
Pilar Herrera as the Whoopi
Goldberg-esque Biondello. Her rap
pin', jammin' version of the usually
long and drawn out "Petruchio's
coming" speech in the wedding scene
is successful if only for its shock value.
PlayMakers Repertory Company
will present Shakespeare's The Tam
ing of the Shrew through April 30.
For more information, call 962-1121.
Get Your Campos Sports and Opinions in Monday's DTH
It brings out the best
in all of us."
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How to Celebrate EM AC
Day on Campus
It's come to our attention that
many people are unaware of the
proper holiday traditions that
should be observed on EMAC
Day.
Flags should not flown at half
mast or displayed prominently
on public buildings. Rather they
should be waved in a large
circular motion while the
celebrants sing l,Hubba hubba,
gotta Mac, got EMAC." The
traditional meal of Twinkiesand
lima beans is then served at
small get-togethers around the
blazing PRES-TO-LOGS.
The holiday climaxes when
emissaries of the RAM Shop
located in the Student Stores
offer these Macintosh
compatible peripherals for sale
and give free t-shirts to the first
50 lucky EMAC celebrants to
come marvel at the wonderful
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Student Stores Price
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40MB External Hard Drive
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EMAC and Impact are trademarks of Evcrcx Systems, Inc. Mac,
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notice. Except the pa rt about lima bca ns.
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