I've been attending USF's Shakespeare in the Schools Tour long enough that I've seen every play they take on the road. This particular rendition of the play appealed to me more than the previous one with one exception. I don't remember last time if they commented on the relationships between the couples, and although I found the presentation more pleasing, I found the conclusions drawn by the players and their real life relationships less so.
The players were excellent, but I'm not sure this is common. For their production this year, they decided to go at it as if it were a circus and incorporated tricks you might see from entertainers and street performers into the interactions on stage and the costumes. One of the female characters was played by a man, which is historically accurate and rare in modernity, and so it was nice to see that portrayed as Shakespeare might have intended. This was the first year I saw any member of the troupe who was overweight, which made a perfect contrast to the suitor Bianca actually chooses. All but two of the cast knew each other from the same college program. This might be why they worked well together, but I am not sure it was the strength you might want to think it is. Even with that, they acted it well and gesticulated in a way that engaged and enraptured the audience, and so I enjoyed it immensely.
At the end of the play, the main characters commented on how they felt about the play and what they wanted to convey about the story. The characters believed that Shakespeare meant this as a serious play, that a woman should come to appreciate the sacrifices made by their man and acquiesce to the little demands it entails. First of all, I was shocked to hear them take that vector, because it's kind of old fashioned for the players to believe that and very inconsistent with the modern push for "equality". Secondly, I was appalled because I don't believe in forcing anyone to do anything against their will, even through guile and other trickery, and so I would never have applied this method to convince a wife to be with me. In other words, even if I married a shrew of a woman, I would not tame her. I know because I was married to one.
Killing a person with kindness is a phrase often used but misapplied. In the play, this is done because Petrucio wants to control Katarina. It is not because he loves her. It is because he loves himself. He feigns to do what he does out of concern for her, then manipulates her into seeing things his way all the time or suffer. This isn't kindness, but it certainly did kill the person Katarina was. Unfortunately, I have seen many people do this to people I know and to people I love so that they are no longer the people I knew, having been converted via this emotional and physical abuse into being someone who acquiesces to teh will of another.
I thought I'd be seeing Romeo and Juliet, and so this was a surprise. However, it resonated with me as a similar tragedy and one with which I am intimately familiar. I have recently seen this done to someone for whom I cared by their loved ones, all "for their own good". It was tragic to watch this tragedy because I know all too well how it feels and all to well what was going on with Petrucio. Ironically enough, the man playing Petrucio was also probably the most attractive character in the troupe, once more equating good looks with "a good guy". Most people I know are not really looking for a great guy. They may be looking for one of great looks or great fortune, but they do not pick men of great character unless they also have one of the former.
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