Concept Shakespeare

While I have no problems, per se, with concept Shakespeare, I do have standards. The trimmed down version of Taming of the Shrew I saw Thursday evening, was one such concept production. Trimming the script to a length suitable for those with short attention spans (the first half ran one hour and the second 45 minutes, with a 15 minute intermission), did not dilute from the basic story line, and in fact may have even helped to explicate it a bit more. My biggest problem with the show, which was conceived as a commedia dell'arte piece in modern dress, was that not all of the actors were fully committed to carrying off the concept.

The performance was in a black box space, so there were nine actors, plus a puppet, playing all of the parts. That worked fairly well. Modern dress is not an issue either. After all, Shakespeare's plays were originally performed in modern dress, albeit Elizabethan modern dress. So, why not? Yes, this is a comedy, and while it was witty, it was not cackle worthy funny. Someone sitting a row or two behind us, apparently disagreed. There was so much loud cackling I kept waiting for the witch scene from the Scottish play. (And speaking of the Scottish play, I'm sincerely sorry I missed the production in Kansas City. I read reviews and it sounded like a good time was had by all.)

Commedia is physical acting, and so is Shakespeare, most of the time. This production had only one actor who fully committed to the physicality of her two roles. She played Bianca and Petruchio's servant and was awesome. Petruchio wasn't too bad, but some of the other actors were either directed to be stereotypically crude (think frat boy humor), or took it there on their own. It did not work. The curtain speech before the show informed us that they extended the run because it had proved to be so wildly popular. I didn't get it, I really didn't. Perhaps concept Shakespeare really is beyond me.