"The Taming of the Shrew" Done Seven Ways

Over the course of a week or two we watched seven different takes of the same scene of The Taming of the Shrew. The first one was a black and white version that was completely different from what I had imagined the production to consist of. It seemed to be set in Europe and took place in a parlor. The physical motions of the characters were extremely rough and violent. The second one was a Canadian version that was set outdoors. The third one was the Walnut production put on a few years ago. It was set traditionally in a parlor and the actors that portrayed Kate and Petruchio used the words to its fullest potential in order to embody the humor of the play. The costumes also help set the play in its traditional version which seemed to be the most practical. It was definitely a better fit than version #1. The fourth version was by far the best version. Although it played the scene out differently than the other three it utilized the setting extremely well as the actors moved from the room to the staircase and then to the roof. It seems that in the end, Kate acquiesces to Petruchio rather than strongly resisting him as was portrayed in the other versions. The fifth version did not seem to work because the costumes were out of place as Kate's revealing costume did not fit with the conservative period. The actors themselves did not seem to do much in the sense that they did not enhance their lines. The sixth version was set traditionally and demonstrated a stronger Kate character. The seventh version progressed at a faster speed because the actors spoke at a rapid rate. When they slowed down their speech, this helped viewers to tune into these lines. This was not the best take of Shakespeare's play, but it was by far the most humorous.

Tartuffe: Born Again

Freyda Thomas' adaptation of one of Molière’s play is called Tartuffe: Born Again. It is a tale of religious hypocrisy in which it's protagonist Tartuffe coerces Orgon into surrendering to him all his worldly possessions; going so far as to surrender his own wife. Tartuffe poses as a pious televangelist who finds his way into Orgon's family to the point where Orgon and his mother (Madame Pernelle) trust him with all of their decisions and to take Tartuffe's words at face value. It comes to the point where Orgon's son, Damis, is ousted from the family when he reveals that Tartuffe harbors lustful feelings toward his mother (Elmire). When Elmire finally persuades Orgon to remain hidden during one of her meetings with Tartuffe, Orgon discovers that his family's distrust of Tartuffe is in fact the truth for Tartuffe attempts to compromise Elmire. Orgon reveals himself and orders Tartuffe to leave; however, Tartuffe possesses incriminating letters toward Orgon and thus Orgon is forced to move out of his own home. The play takes a turn when Tartuffe brings an officer to help with Orgon's eviction but the officer ends up arresting Tartuffe.

The play is adapted from a 1664 satire to take place in modern-day Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It combines 17th century couplets with modern-day language. Because it takes place in Louisiana, there is a combination of Creole and Cajun French in its script. The cast's dialogue and its extreme characterizations greatly enhance the production. This extremity is central in satirical plays in order for the audience to easily grasp and categorize each character. The actor portraying Tartuffe emphasizes the irony of his character through the voice he uses for these pious sermons and through his scheming nature. This idea of extremes is depicted in Dario Fo's theory as he himself was a political satirist. He stated that in order for the audience to understand satire, situations needed to be overly dramatized. Freyda Thomas used the southern accent of Louisiana to her advantage as actors were able to rhyme the ends of lines because of the accent. I feel that by adapting one of Molière’s play into modern-day, the writer is able to engage the audience and demonstrate that Molière’s idea of piety for profit can propel even up until today.

Shakespearean Theatre

I will present a few facts that I took from a lecture and a video that we watched about Shakespearean theatre. It was at first seen as slanderous theatre to the royal court. Although it was seen as slanderous, Queen Elizabeth eventually obtained a liking for these plays which is why the Shakespearean period can also be referred to as the Elizabethan period. It consisted of "university wits" who were playwrights from Cambridge and Oxford who changed their educated format of plays to those that would appeal to the public audience. Such playwrights were Christopher Marlowe and John Lyly. John Hemmings and Henry Condell eventually published Shakespeare's works in a compilation called the First Folio.

Starting Shakespeare

We began our Shakespeare unit with The Taming of the Shrew. This play consists of Katherina (Kate) and Bianca who are sisters in which the first is thought to be a shrew and the latter is that of exquisite beauty. In effect, all the men of Padua lust after Bianca and hope to court her as their future wife. The only problem is that their father, a Lord in Padua, refuses to allow the younger daughter to marry unless the older daughter finds herself a suitor. As a shrew, many of the men are not attracted to her because of this fact except for one: Petruchio. With this in mind, Hortensio (Bianca's suitor) persuades his friend Petruchio to court Kate. In the end, Lucentio beats Hortensio in courting Bianca and Petruchio receives the Lord's permission to marry Kate. It is ironic that Kate is the more obedient wife whereas her Bianca, the supposed angelic lady, is more difficult to deal with.

We were asked to stage our own version of The Taming of the Shrew and I focused more on the physicality. Petruchio and Kate would both be onstage and Petruchio would move closer to Kate and speak as if he is in awe with her. Kate displays this sharpness to contradict his attraction towards her and moves away from him as he approaches. She does not look at him and does not give him the time of day whereas he stares at her in amazement. The setting would be a room such as a parlor in Kate's home. It will be relatively minimal in terms of props as we will need to allot room for Kate to move around. Being the headstrong woman that she is, she will retort at Petruchio when he comments on her inferiority.

Into the Woods

For this six-week play report I attended Into the Woods at the Bing Theatre located inside the University of Southern California as a part of its school of theatre. I just so happened to be at USC during spring break exploring the school and spending some quality time with my older sister when I realized that attending this production would be a great opportunity. This was the second college level musical that I had been to and was comparable to Miss Saigon which took place at CSU Fullerton. I felt that these two musicals are comparable because they share the same level of musical quality and acting. What differed between the two was that since Into the Woods was put out by a private university, the sets, props, and theatre itself were clearly at a higher caliber.

The plot of the musical is that the baker and his wife have been forever cursed so that they cannot bear children. In order for them to reverse this curse, the witch gave them a task/mission that they had to complete within three days time. This task consisted of getting the witch a cow as milk as white, hair as yellow as corn, a cape as red as blood, and golden shoes. In attaining each of these different items, the bakers weaved together these three stories and brought all the characters together into one story. There were obstacles along the way, and in order to end this production in true fairy tale fashion, the characters were left with their "happily ever ending."

The set-up of this musical was divided into three different sets because the musical itself was divided into three different stories that commingled into one larger story. The three children's stories consisted of the story dealing with Little Red Riding Hood and the bakers (husband and wife), Cinderella, and that of Jack and his milky-white cow. The set dealing with Little Red Riding Hood's story was a bakery made of what appeared to be stone with a brick oven. The set dealing with Cinderella consisted of two different levels where Cinderella scrubbed and cleaned on the first level while her evil stepsisters Florinda and Lucinda and stepmother prepared for the festival on the upper level. The last set was constructed similarly to the one used by the bakers; however, the set was made with the intent to act as a stable for the cow. Also, there were four versatile stone pillars that were utilized throughout the entire performance when the actors were in the woods. These "stone" pillars were in fact made by pieces of Styrofoam glued together.

The production also utilized elaborate costumes such as the extravagant ball gown that Cinderella wore to the festival. In addition to this were the costumes of Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince, Rapunzel, and the Witch. The costumes added to the performance and enhanced their characterization. In the technical aspects of the performance, the mystical voice used by Cinderella's mother gave her this ethereal feel. The lighting even changed when she was introduced into the setting as a spotlight was placed on her. It gave the audience the feeling of Cinderella calling up her mother from the dead. Two incidents stuck in my head even after the performance. One was when Cinderella's Prince had run frantically onstage and accidentally ran into the pillar too strongly and the entire pillar collapsed onto him. Rather than breaking character he continued and the crew backstage walked on and took the extraneous pieces offstage without any sense of commotion as if it was planned. The other thing was when the birds were brought onstage and one had fallen onto the floor. Cinderella picked up the bird and sent it away as if it were part of her script not giving any indication to the audience that it was a mistake.

Despite the positive aspects of the production, the criticism is that the actors had poor diction which made it difficult for the audience to discern their words. At times the orchestra overpowered the actors which only added to the difficultly of understanding the actors. Another technical issue was the problem dealing with the mics which would occur when the actor spoke too quickly. What happened was that the mic would crack and there would be static when the actor spoke too quickly and also made it difficult for the audience to understand.