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join us next season!
Under Milk wood
by dylan thomas
directed by nigel maister
opening October 2015
Courage!* (a world premiere)
yerma
by federico garcia lorca
directed by gisela cardenas
opening december 2015
A new pop-rock music-theatre work based on
bertolt brechts mother courage and her children
adapted and directed by nigel maister
original music by matt marks
opening april 2016
* working title
the first show of the fall ‘15 semester,
dylan thomas's unique play for voices
under milk wood
is auditioning
this semester!
pre
AUDITION!
when:
monday & tuesday,
april 27 & 28 at 7pm
where: Todd theatre
what: prepare/perform
anY poem of your choice
no prior experience necessary
get with the program
the ur international theatre program
the russell and ruth peck artistic director nigel maister
production manager gordon g. rice
administrator katie farrell
technical director charles t. lawlor
props master/production associate mary reiser
costume shop manager nadine brooks taylor
box office, front-of-house & concessions manager virginia monte
cutter/draper sara jean gallagher
hair & makeup assistant sarah goodman
costume shop interns stephanie busch, caleb krieg & bonnie nortz
assistant props masters halle burns, devin goodman, leah mould
& nancy (fang ning) wang
scene shop assistants julia cowan, travis kohler & david simm
social media intern & pr assistant fernanda price
publicity interns murie gillett, elizana-marie joseph, elizabeth pearson,
maria sepulveda & caitlin thomas
theatre intern devin goodman
program information compiled by kat mccorkle
URITP photographer keith walters
URITP videographer xuan (amy) zhang
production trailers by sam lerman
URITP webmaster zachary kimball
graphic, program & poster design
i:master/studios at imaster.studios@gmail.com
www.rochester.edu/theatre
like our page: toddtheatre / join our group: toddtheatre
read our blog: toddtheatre.blogspot.com
a note about the program
follow us @toddtheatre
visit our channel: www.youtube.com/ToddTheatre
Program content is compiled by the production’s Assistant Director, Kat McCorcle, and edited by Nigel
Maister. For a complete list of sources and works cited, please contact the Theatre Program.
The UR International Theatre Program continually brings new, challenging, and exciting
theatre to Rochester. We can’t do it without your support. Become a patron of the arts
and a supporter of original work and fresh talent, by making a donation to the Program today.
Even the smallest amount can make a difference. Call 273-5159 to find out how you can contribute...
(and every donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.)
ur supporting the arts
our work has been supported by the following
generous patrons and friends
of the ur international theatre program:
Hameed Ahmed ('11) - Walter Monteith Aikman - Christopher David & Melissa Apple ('92)
Leah Barish ('12) - Stuart Jay Barish - Judith Bernstein - Stephen M. Bertetti - Thomas M. Bohrer ('85)
Daniel Braden & Natalie Hurst - Leslie Braun - Kevin Brice ('12) - Kelsey A. Burritt ('13)
Alan Carmasin ('67) - Lisa G. Chanzit - Donald Chew - Jessica Chinelli ('12) - Jill M. Cohen
Lisa J. Cohen ('84) & Neil Halin -Timothy J. & Shelby M. Connell - Montoia Davis ('10) - Alison DeSantis
Nina DeSoi ('12) - Margaret Wada & Michael Dumouchel - Lindsay Rae Dussing
Eleanor Leba Eines - Andrew Eisman - Diane Faissler
Randall Fippinger & the Frances Alexander Family Fund of the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Charles Flowers - Bethany Gilboard ('80) - Gwen M. Greene - Edmund A. Hajim
Christopher & Alissa Harrington - Frank A. & Linda E. Interlichia - Lydia Jimenez ('13)
Christopher Justus - Jonathan & Marcie Kammel - Steven & Heidi Kasper - Karen E. Kennedy
Zack Kimball - Taryn McKenna Kimel - Sheila Knopke - Adam Konowe ('90) - Sylvia B. Lee
Jeffery Mantel - Daniel Mauro - Elizabeth McMaster (in memory of Katie McManus) - Mark R. Milner
Karen Celeste Moculeski - Chandler Moran - Julia Nathan & Joel Loveless - Mitch Nelson
Lawrence Nehring - David Paul Dominic Pascoe - Russell & Ruth Peck
Diane Waldgeir Perlberg (‘77) & Mark C. Perlberg (‘78) - Giulia Perucchio ('13) - Renato Perucchio
James Phillips - Paul I. Pilorz - Laura J. Platt - Peter Plummer
The family and friends of Nicholas S. Priore ‘83
Ronald Rettner - Mike Riffle - Matt Rodano - Kathleen Rose - Penina Rubin - Seth A. Rubinstein
Andrew Ruffner - Mariko Sakita-Mozeson - James Schwartz - Dr. Rene, Iris & Robert Rene Sevigny
Kay Shames - Aadika Singh - May T. Skinner - Robert & Roberta Sokol - Linda & Tom Sloan
Joan Ross Sorkin - Nancy Rademan Stilwell - Evelyn Stock - Bruce Stockton ('11) - Jean Marie Sullivan Carl Talbot - Marian Todd - Eugene Vaynberg ('08) - Janice Willett - Cyd Rosenberg Weiss
West Family Trust - Peter Winkelstein - Mark & Robin Young - Martin P. Zemel & Laura L. Fulton
we urge you to join their ranks!
Fill out the pledge form included in your program
or visit us at www.rochester.edu/theatre/support.php
the university of rochester international theatre program presents
special thanks
Applied Audio & Theater Supplies - Jim and Rita DeLucia - Tom and Peggy Lawlor
This production has been made possible through the combined efforts of ENG 171 & 271 (Technical &
Advanced Technical Theatre), ENG 173 (Intro to Stage Lighting and Sound), ENG 291
(Plays in Production) & ENG 360 (Special Projects: Theatre)
Benjamin Ackerman - Fraol Bekele - Brandon Bogardus - Felipe Bomfim - Joshua Churchin - Jeremy Cooper
Julia Cowan - Ella DeFalco - Fan Feng - Luiain Felemban - Andrew Fianu - Sarah Goodman -Michael Grady
Robert Greendyke - Lancaster Hamilton - Sam Higgins - Justina Hauss - Emily Ivey - Talia Jaffe - Mia Koulopoulos Travis Kohler - Michael LaPorte - Renjun Li - Haotai Liu - Kat McCorkle - Bruce McKenty - Stephen Mitchell
Manuel Navarro - Aurora Newman - Kedi Ni - Eric Nolting - Daniel Parker - Tori Powers - Robert Pringle
Isaiah Pule - Feroz Rauf - Theodore Reiss - Hayden Schiff - David Simm - Miles Smith - Catherine Stevens
Zach Tredenick - Rutain Wang - Steven Willis - Qingyi (Stacey) Yu
The Taming of the Shrew
by william shakespeare
directed by matthew earnest
set & costume design by will bezek
lighting design by kyle grant
sound design by anthony narciso
voice & acting coaching by alexa scott-flaherty
production staff
production stage manager .......................................................................... nick potter
assistant psm ........................................................................................... justina hauss
assistant stage managers ................................................ matt ervin/run crew (rigging)
............................................................................... abdelrahman hassan/spot operator
............................................................................................................. emily ivey/lights
............................................................................... thomas marone/run crew (rigging)
.............................................................................................. brian miers/spot operator
................................................................................... yasaman khademi rad/costumes
.............................................................................................................. jay shim/sound
........................................................................................................ katie stevens/props
master electrician ................................................................................... melissa becker
assistant master electricians ............................................ andrew jones & dan parker
audiovisual engineer .................................................................................. kyle meyers
assistant audiovisual engineer .................................................................. adam parker
assistant director .................................................................................... kat mccorkle
this production was made possible, in part, by the
ellen miller '55 endowment for theater productions
The UR International Theatre Program wishes the following students who have contributed to
the Theatre Program over the course of their academic careers and who are now graduating:
good luck, godspeed, and many broken metaphorical legs in the years ahead. Stay in touch!
Blanca Abney - Deema AlMohammed Ali - Megan Arnold -Vasyl Boychuk - Michael Breen - Lilly Camp
Sergio Carrillo - Javier Dominguez - Antoinette Esce - Sara Frederick - Devin Goodman - Sarah Goodman
Evelyn Hernandez - Sam Higgins - Seung Ho Lee - Samay Kapadia - Ryan Kelly -Maxwell Kinder - Travis Kohler
Charles Lehner - Kathryn Loveless - Michael Mayor -Justina McCarty - Matthew McCormick - Shaquill McCullers
Melanie Mendez - Michael Mobarak - Alex Montes - Leah Mould - Brandon Newton - Rachael O’Neill
Antonio Ortega - Natasha Sacoto - Rachael Sonnet - Hannah Wiltse - Zoe Netter - Yiwei (Kelly) Zhou
the taming of the shrew runs approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one 15 minute intermission
please be advised that this production uses theatrical gunshots.
the taking of photographs, video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever
is strictly prohibited
W
illiam
Shakespeare
is arguably the best
known and most frequently performed English
language playwright. Despite
Shakespeare’s ubiquitous presence in high school curricula,
college literature courses, and
both professional and amateur
theatres the world over, much of
the Bard of Avon’s personal life
remains shrouded in mystery.
What we do know comes from
the few records left at the time
of his birth and professional
work.
Shakespeare was born
in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. Though
the exact date of his birth is
unknown, the church in Stratford-upon-Avon records a William Shakespeare born to John
Shakespeare and Mary Arden,
baptized on 26 April 1564.
Scholars generally agree that
he would have been born about
three days earlier, and his birth
is customarily celebrated on 23
April (the date, coincidentally, of his death
in 1616). Shakespeare would have been
educated until about sixteen years of age at
the grammar school in Stratford, where
(true to the fashion of the time) he would
have found a curriculum heavy in Latin literature, learned
through memorization, translation, and performance. At
eighteen, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, and the
couple had a daughter, Susanna, followed by twins, Judith
and Hamnet two years later.
Shakespeare then disappears from the public
record until 1592, when he is recorded as living in London, working as an actor and playwright. Shakespeare, it
seems, was a modestly talented actor, but his playwriting
drew the most attention-and royal patronage. Shakespeare, like many poets of his day, sought wealthy sponsors
from among the upper class to fund his writing. In return,
poets would dedicate works to their patrons, granting
william
shakespeare
1564 - 1616
“He was not of an age but for all time"
Ben Jonson, “To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare”
them elevated status among
the nobility during England’s Renaissance. Shakespeare’s first major patron
was the Earl of Southampton, a wealthy young nobleman.
Shakespeare dedicated both Venus and Adonis
and The Rape of Lucrece to
Southampton. Additionally, many Shakespearean scholars believe that Southampton is the subject of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Shakespeare later gained favor with both Queen
Elizabeth and King James I. Queen Elizabeth allowed
professional theatres to operate in London, and King
James became a patron of Shakespeare and his theatre company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which was
renamed The King’s Men in 1603 in honor of James.
Shakespeare continued to write until his death in 1616,
on what could have been his 52nd birthday. Though the
historical record of Shakespeare’s personal life is slim, we
do know that he was well-regarded during his lifetime.
As his friend and occasional rival Ben Jonson had it:
Thou art a monument without a tomb
And art alive still while thy book doth live
And we have wits to read and praise to give.
William Bezek (Scenic & Costume Designer) is a freelance artist from
San Francisco, and resident designer for the Lunar Stratagem, a touring
theater company based in West Virginia. Elsewhere: [glug], Can you forgive her?, Dead Letter Office (Huntington, West Virginia), I Ca$$ie…or
the end of days (English Theater, Berlin Germany), poor little Lulu (Cleveland Public Theatre), The Underpants (Beck Center, Cleveland), Tigers Be
Still (Dobama Theater, Cleveland), Emperor of the Moon (International
Theatre Program, University of Rochester), and ¡Ay Carmela! at Spanish
Rep, NYC. Will lives in NYC and in upstate New York.
Kyle Grant (Lighting Designer) Select regional design credits: Jason Invisible, Elephant & Piggie's: We Are in a Play! ( John F. Kennedy
Center); The Winter's Tale, Camelot (Texas Shakespeare Festival); A Few
Good Men (Keegan Ireland Tour); Symphonie Concertante (Balanchine
Trust), Kafka on the Shore (Spooky Action Theater), Urinetown The Musical, Oliver!, A Chorus Line, Oklahoma! (Cabrillo Stage). Other credits:
Washington Ballet, Juilliard Schools of Dance & Drama, Washington
National Opera, Martha Graham Dance Company, Trinity Rep, The
Laramie Project Cycle (BAM, NYC), Stickfly (Bway, assistant to Beverly Emmons). He serves as resident lighting designer for Intermezzo
Dance Company in NYC and lighting director for the American College Theater Festival in Washington DC. Upcoming: Occupied Territories, DC. www.kylegrant.net
Anthony Narciso (Sound Designer) is a sound designer and audio
engineer based in Orlando, FL. His work is frequently heard around
the country at regional theaters and universities. He is currently the
season sound designer for Orlando Repertory Theatre and was a part
of the guest sound design staff at UCF for the Fall 2014 semester. In
addition, Anthony is the Sound Department Head and Festival Sound
Designer for the Texas Shakespeare Festival during the summer months.
Recent credits include Cymbeline (Sound Designer/Composer), Macbeth
(Sound Designer/Composer), Noises Off and My Fair Lady at the Texas
Shakespeare Festival; The Borrowers (Sound Designer/Composer) and
A Christmas Story: The Musical at Orlando Rep; Trevor at Theatre UCF;
and Can You Forgive Her? at The Lunar Stratagem in West Virginia.
Anthony holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre Design and
Technology from the University of Central Florida.
Alexa Scott-Flaherty (Acting and Vocal Coach) is an actress, theatre artist and producer. She is a proud member of Labyrinth Theatre
Company in New York City. There she has worked on new plays since
2003 with writers including Cusi Cram, John Patrick Shanley, Steven
Adly Guirgis, Jose Rivera, Frank Pugliese, Melissa Ross, Eric Bogosian, Bob Glaudini, David Bar Katz, and many others. She has worked
as an actress in New York at many theaters including The Public Theatre, SoHo Rep, and PS 122. She also worked as an actress with the
Royal Shakespeare Company of London and The Shakespeare Theatre
in Washington, D.C. Alexa is an adjunct lecturer at the University of
Rochester. She is an alumna of Vassar College.
artist bios
Matthew Earnest (Director) Matthew’s many productions of new and classical plays,
operas, and his own original works and literary adaptations have been seen in NYC, across
the US, Europe, and in Africa. Originally from Texas, he is an associate artist at Germany’s
English Theatre Berlin and at The REP/University of Delaware, and from 1995-2007 he
was Founding Artistic Director of international touring company, deep ellum ensemble,
based in NYC. Today, in addition to an active career as an independent director around
the country, Matthew is Founding Artistic Director of The Lunar Stratagem, where he
has written, directed, and choreographed [glug], Can You Forgive Her?, Dead Letter Office
(a prelude to Bartleby the Scrivener), and I, Ca$$ie… or The end of days, among others. The
more text-based of these pieces are published and available for purchase. Matthew was
twice granted permission by the family of Bertolt Brecht to translate that playwright’s
works for his own productions, and he has translated/adapted several other European dramatists as well, including Chekhov, Ibsen, and Büchner. Matthew was profiled in American Theatre magazine for his 2010 production of Wanderlust: a History of Walking, which he
adapted from the bestselling non-fiction book by Rebecca Solnit, created with an Access
to Artistic Excellence grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and premiered
at Cleveland Public Theatre before being invited to the Ice Factory in NYC. Matthew’s
US premiere of Madrid playwright Juan Mayorga’s Himmelweg (Way to Heaven) ran OffBroadway for nine months in 2011 after receiving The New York Times Critics’ Pick,
and in summer 2014, Matthew was among a group of artists invited to Tijuana, Mexico
to participate in TCG’s International Artistic Collaboration Forum. His NYC productions include: The Public Theater/Joe’s Pub, Gramercy Arts Theater, Teatro Círculo, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Ice Factory, Ontological-Hysteric Theater, Washington Square
Church, Present Company Theatorium, Midtown International Theatre Festival, The
Bridge Dance-Theater Series at WAX, KGB’s Kraine Theater, NY International Fringe
Festival, Chelsea Arts Theater, One Dream Theatre, and NADA, Inc. His regional work
includes: Amphibian Stage Productions (Fort Worth), Daniel Arts Center (MA), The
REP (DE), Texas Shakespeare Festival, Hilberry Rep (Detroit), Cleveland Public Theatre,
Adirondack Theatre Festival (NY), Beck Center for the Arts (Cleveland), DStv Festival (Ethiopia), Dublin Festival Fringe (Ireland), Warehouse Theatre (SC), Burning Coal
Theatre Co (NC), Stoneleaf Festival (NC), Stillwater Theatre (NC), Porthouse Theatre
(OH), Theatre Outlet (PA), Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, Center for Performing Arts
at Rhinebeck (NY), Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, Kitchen Dog
Theater (Dallas), FIT Festival (Dallas), Arlington Opera (TX), and Moonstruck Theatre
(Dallas). Matthew has taught graduate and undergraduate students, led workshops, and
directed productions at many universities, including Coastal Carolina University, Marshall
University, University of Rochester, Ohio Northern University, University of North Texas,
Meredith College, and Kent State University, where he was the 2008 Roe Green Visiting
Director. A Drama League Directing Fellow, Matthew has created works with support
from the NEA, ArtNY, and others, and he has been an adjudicator of new plays at the
American College Theater Festival. Matthew’s many awards include the Berkshire Stage
and Screen’s Best of 2013, Cleveland Scene Best Director, a Wilde Award (nomination),
Outstanding Alumnus (UNT), BIFF (NY Fringe), Audience Favourite (Dublin Fringe),
Dallas Theater Critics Forum Award, and the Dallas Observer’s Best of Dallas, among
others, and his productions have been cited on Top 10 lists in major newspapers around
the country. Matthew is a member of SDC, the labor union of professional theater directors and choreographers in America. He lives in Manhattan's East Village and in the
Hudson Valley with artist and stage designer, William Bezek. www.matthewearnest.com
“To me she’s married, not unto my clothes. Could I repair what she
will wear in me as I can change these poor accoutrements, ‘twere well
for Kate and better for myself.”
Petruccio, III ii ll 116-119
“My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, or
else my heart concealing it will break”
Katherina, IV iii ll 79-80
cast
Halle Burns ................................. Sly, Vincentio
Ron Aulakh ................................. Hostess, Petruchio
Lydia Jimenez .............................. Lord, Baptista, Servant, Haberdasher
Devin Goodman ......................... Huntsman, Lucentio (later disguised
as Cambio), Tranio, Servant
Ian Von Fange ............................. Kate
Alberto Carrillo Casas ................ Bianca, Grumio
Kevin Bodhipaksha ..................... Gremio, Servant, Tailor, Widow
Jonathan Wetherbee ....................Hortensio (later disguised as Licio),
Curtis
Elizabeth Scheuerman ................Servant, Biondello, Merchant
love & marriage in elizabethan england
M
arriage in Shakespeare’s day was often
seen as a business deal. Marriages could
often improve a family’s social standing,
and a woman from a wealthy family often brought
a large dowry to the marriage. Men and women
both had rigidly defined gender roles that influenced their role in the courtship process and the
marital relationship.
In a marriage, men were seen as the providers, while women were in charge of the children
and servants. The Elizabethan courtship process
was a long one, and a marriage was typically a public ceremony followed by a more private feast for
the families of the couple. Before the couple could
be married, they would need to be publicly promised to one another. First, they would hold hands
in front of witnesses as their betrothal was announced, as Katherina and Petruccio do in Act II,
Scene I. Then, a proclamation, called the “banns”from the Middle English word for proclamationwould be read in the couple’s home parish church
on three consecutive Sundays (or other holy days,
if applicable) prior to the wedding. Reading the
banns was a chance for anyone with legal objections to the marriage, such as knowledge of a preexisting marriage contract or a vow of celibacy to
“speak now or forever hold their peace”; otherwise,
the marriage would continue as planned.
In some cases, however, couples needed a
more expedited marriage, and for a significant fee
a marriage license and exemption from the banns
could be provided. Shakespeare himself married
Anne Hathaway in a more hurried fashion, as she
was three months pregnant and he was a minor
and needed his father’s consent. Though frowned
upon, marriages like Will and Anne’s weren’t uncommon. Many couples engaged in sex once they
were betrothed (or even before) and many brides
were pregnant when married. Thus, the marriages
between Katherina and Petruccio, and even more
so Bianca and Lucentio, though not typical, would
not have been unheard of in Shakespeare’s time.
Humans have hunted with falcons or other
birds of prey since 2000 BCE. Falconry
gained popularity in Europe during the Renaissance and was seen as a symbol of high
status. After social change brought on by the
French Revolution in the 1800s, and as concern for the environment rose during the 19th
and 20th centuries, falconry has fallen somewhat out of favor, though the sport is still
practiced.
“Another way I have to man my haggard, to make her come and know her
keeper’s call: that is, to watch her, as
we watch these kites that bate, and
beat, and will not be obedient.”
Petruccio, IV i ll 182-185
falconry
women
The theatre in Shakespeare’s day had a decidedly mixed reputation. While Queen Elizabeth I and King James were patrons
of Shakespeare’s theatre company, and allowed the theaters to
operate, members of the Church of England saw theatre as a corrupting influence and regarded actors as unsavory characters. All
public theaters were closed in 1642 by the Puritan Parliament.
Marriage in Elizabethan England aimed
primarily to produce heirs for the family, especially
in the upper classes. Only sons could inherit, but
in the event that a family had only daughters, the
eldest daughter would inherit – but usually her
share of her family’s wealth would go to her husband as a dowry. Baptista promises large sums of
money and land to Petruccio to take Katherina off
his hands, and Petruccio in return promises a large
“jointure” (a portion of land, goods, and/or money
promised to a woman after marriage in the event
that she became a widow).
Once married, the wife would move to
her husband’s home and become part of his family, where she became the head of his household.
While men were expected to be the breadwinners
and provide financially for their families, women
would be in charge of managing the household accounts, overseeing the servants, and caring for the
children.
Women in Shakespeare’s time did not have the same
access to formal education as their male counterparts. Lower-class women would have very little, if
any, schooling. Upper-class women, like Bianca and
Katherina, would be educated by tutors in their home
or the home of a friend of the family. A woman’s primary duty was to care for her husband and children
and manage the home, so her education would usually
focus on music, dancing, keeping the household accounts up to date, and some Latin and Greek.
“Tranio, since for the great desire I had to see fair
Padua, nursery of arts, I am arrived for fruitful
Lombardy, the pleasant garden of great Italy”
Lucentio, I i ll 1-5
padua
Padua is a city located in Northern Italy. Traditionally, its founding is dated at
1183 BCE. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, Padua was ruled by the Venetians,
and was noted for its university.
Humoral theory was an important part of medical
philosophy during Shakespeare’s time. Hippocrates
and his contemporaries in Ancient Greece theorized
that the human body was composed of four substances
called humors. These were black bile, yellow bile, blood,
and phlegm. When their humors were balanced, a person was mentally and physically healthy. However, excesses of one or more humors would negatively affect
a person’s health and temperament. Diet and lifestyle
could also affect the balance of humors in the body.
Grumio refuses to give Kate meat because red meat
was believed to be “choleric”, or causing an excess of
yellow bile (and therefore inducing anger).
the humors
the lute
Shakespeare is well known not only for his plays,
but for his clever use of language. The Bard is not
an undeserved title, as Shakespeare coined a number of phrases that we still use today, and many
English words were first written in Shakespeare’s
scripts. Some noteworthy quips from The Taming of the Shrew are Katherina and Petruccio’s
exhchange in Act II Scene I: “Asses are made to
bear, and so are you. / Women are made to bear,
and so are you.” and the use of the word “pedant”
to describe an overly particular, overbearing, and
scholarly character, was first printed in The Taming
of the Shrew.
The lute is a small stringed instrument that is played
by plucking the strings, similar to a guitar. The lute
was arguably the most popular instrument during
the Elizabethan era, especially among courtiers and
the upper class. Many plays would include songs
and musical accompaniment was quite common in
the theatres.
other notable shrews:
folktales, allusions, and adaptations
S
hakespeare’s plays, perhaps more than those
of any other playwright, have been adapted
and re-adapted. Many modern texts allude to
Shakespeare’s plays, but the Bard did his fair share
of borrowing from other stories as well. “Taming” folktales-when a headstrong, argumentative
woman is subdued by her husband-are common in
many traditions, and the motif of woman tamed by
marriage is even more ubiquitous.
Shrews in Greek history, such as Socrates’
nagging wife, Xanithippe, would have been familiar to Shakespeare. Fast forward a few thousand
years, and an English ballad called A Merry Jest of
a Shrewd and Curst Wife Lapped in Morel’s Skin for
Her Good Behavior becomes quite popular. This
folksong describes a quarrelsome woman whose
husband punishes her by beating her and then
wrapping her in the salted skin of his horse, Morel.
Shakespeare would most likely have been familiar
with the ballad, and though the coercion of Kate
in Taming is much more psychological and considerably less physically violent, the pattern is similar,
leading many scholars to believe that Shakespeare
could have at least partly been inspired by A Merry
Jest. The subplot of Bianca and her lovers most
likely is a reference to George Gascoigne’s play,
Supposes, where a woman is wooed by three suitors and must choose one. The pranks played on Sly
are slightly harder to pin down a definite source for,
but oral tradition and folktales often featured beggars being elevated to higher social status, either
through mistake or trickery. The Arabian Nights
features such a story, and some scholars believe
that Shakespeare may have been familiar, at least by
word of mouth, with those tales.
The Taming of the Shrew itself has also been
the basis of numerous adaptations, the most famous
Shrew, n1: Any of the small insectivorous mammals, belonging
to the genus Sorex or the family
Soricidæ, much resembling mice
but having a long sharp snout; a
shrewmouse.
n2: A person, esp. (now only) a
woman given to railing or scolding or other perverse or malignant behavior; freq. a scolding or
turbulent wife. (Oxford English
Dictionary)
of which is Cole Porter’s musical, Kiss Me, Kate.
Kiss Me, Kate is also a play-within-a-play, and follows the story of the backstage intrigues of four actors as they sing, dance, flirt, and fight their way
through a musical adaptation of The Taming of
the Shrew. Songs such as “I’ve Come to Wive it
Wealthily in Padua”, “Where is the Life That Late
I Led?”, and “I Am Ashamed That Women Are So
Simple” are direct references to the text of Taming
of the Shrew. Kiss Me, Kate continues the themes
laid out in Taming such as performance versus privacy, the importance of costuming and appearances,
and the necessity to make sacrifices for the people
we love.
Of the many film adaptations, two of the
most famous are the version starring Elizabeth Taylor (and her then husband, Richard Burton, directed
by Franco Zeffirelli) and the more recent 10 Things I
Hate About You (starring Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles,
and Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
Kat McCorkle: You’ve acted in and directed a
number of Shakespeare’s plays. What drew
you to The Taming of the Shrew?
Matthew Earnest: I’ve always loved Kate, her
intelligence, her anger, her dissatisfaction
with the status quo. She’s always seemed
like someone I would know, a very contemporary figure flailing about in an old, conservative world. Her brilliance is that she
realizes, through the mentorship of the only
person who has ever really loved her, Petruchio, that it is possible to reimagine herself
and find happiness, and that the violence she
has always used to get what she wants is not
necessary.
KM: What do you think are the
biggest takeaways for a modern
audience experiencing Taming of
the Shrew?
ME: Primarily, that one can create the world in which one wants
to live. That world won’t be perfect, nothing ever can be, but you
don’t have to be a rebel all your
life, or a victim. You can be the
protagonist in your own story.
KM: The Taming of the Shrew can
rub some people the wrong way,
to put it lightly. What has been
most challenging about working
on this production?
ME: The same thing that’s hard
about doing any Shakespeare
play-that most people already
know it and think of it as holy writ,
or worse, that their own interpretation of it is definitive, and the
only possible way to read definitive and the only the play.
My job as a theater maker is to respond, very personally,
to a piece of writing. Many hundreds of thousands of
people have directed The Taming of the Shrew, so why
should anyone come to see mine? I believe that the
theater is about an audience walking in someone else’s
shoes for a few hours-this is what creates conversation
a conversation
with director
matthew
earnest
and provokes thought and empathy-but
it isn’t possible if the audience isn’t willing to have their assumptions challenged,
or if they’re not willing to let someone
else control the narrative for a few hours.
This is increasingly difficult in our era of
reality TV, DVR, smartphones, Google
Earth, etc.
KM: If you could pick William Shakespeare’s brain for an hour over lunch,
what are some questions you’d love to ask
him?
ME: They’re quite gossipy, I’m afraid!
Do you feel like you succeeded?
Did you ever regret leaving your marriage and kids, or anything else?
Did you ever love another man?
KM: Do you have any advice for young
actors or directors approaching a Shakespearean production?
ME:
Lesson #1: Make it about you.
Lesson #2: Make it about you.
Lesson #3: Make it about you.
S
hakespeare, like most playwrights of his day, would
have been familiar with commedia dell’arte, a type of
physical, improvisation-based theatre that originated
in Italy during the late fifteenth century, and which later
gained popularity throughout England and France. The
commedia dell’arte troupes are considered some of the first
professional theatre companies, and many went on to considerable fame in Italy, France, and England. In Winifred
Smith’s The Commedia Dell’Arte: A Study in Italian Popular
Comedy, she notes that “a commedia was always in part the
transitory creation of the individual actors who played it”.
Professional improvisational actors would work within a specific
scenario or plot outline and add
their own personal touches, dialogue, and slapstick humor. The
scenarios often centered on a
pair of young lovers opposed by
some twist of fate. They would
be helped, in comic fashion, by
a troop of servants, called the
Zanni, who provided the bulk
of the jokes and commentary.
Other scenarios would draw on
folktales or Greek drama, but the
actors would often add in snide
remarks based on local politics or
recent events.
Most actors would
be masked, and wear elaborate
costumes to fit the stereotypical
characters they embodied. Actors would also practice improvising small bits of comic
action or dialogue, or lazzi
(from the Italian for joke or
witticism), and add them into the
scenario to fill time or get more laughs out of the audience.
Some actors would become famous for being able to a perform a particular lazzo, which their audiences would expect
from them even though it often had nothing to do with the
plot or the scenario.
In Taming of the Shrew, many of the characters are
based upon stock characters from the commedia. Gremio, Bianca’s elderly suitor,is a perfect example of the stock character,
Pantaloon—a rich yet foolish old man who is hoodwinked
comedy and
comedia dell'arte
in shakespeare
According to an essay by Jennifer Meagher
for the Metropolitan Museum of Art on
commedia dell’arte, “the earliest known
company formed in Padua in 1545, and by
the turn of the seventeenth century troupes
such as the Gelosi, Confidenti, and Fedeli
enjoyed international celebrity”.
by the young lovers (Inamorati or
The Straights) and their servants.
Shakespeare drew upon the commedia dell’arte for inspiration
for many of his other comedies,
including Twelfth Night and A
Midsummer Night’s Dream. Unlike in Shakespeare’s theatre,
women would occasionally take
the stage in commedia troupes,
as a maid or noble lady.
Another off-shoot of
the commedia dell’arte that is still
alive and well today, especially in
England, is the Punch and Judy
puppet show. Punch’s character
is based upon one of the Zanni,
Pulcinello-a thuggish and belligerent character. These commedia-inspired puppet shows
arrived in England in the early 17th century, and quickly
became popular street entertainment.
Punch and Judy continue to be well-known characters to this day, just as the shrewish Kates, the Pantaloons, and the Harlequins make their entrances in theatres
the world over, loudly making their voices heard.