The Shrew gets Reviewed…and Tamed

On Saturday night, Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew received a modern update at the hands of the UEA Drama Studio crew, who decided to set their production during the MOD era in Brighton.

This choice felt oddly appropriate considering the attitudes of a rebellious youth culture as presented in films such as Quadrophenia and the attitudes of Shakespeare’s Kate and Petrucio. The use of the MOD era was also a very intelligent way of making sense of the youth of the cast members.

The performance was set to an excellent sixties soundtrack, performed live, that was integrated almost impeccably into the performance, with the actors and actresses participating, dancing to the music and even singing the lyrics.

I say that it was ‘almost’ successfully integrated, because there were a few rare moments where the music seemed to overwhelm the production, or drown out some of the dialogue, especially the opening scene.

Another complaint I had, being sat on the back row, was that occasionally some of the dialogue was difficult to hear even without the live music, though these moments were, again, rare.

The two leads, Kate and Petrucio, were portrayed brilliantly. With the play set during the MOD era, both character’s rebellious, obdurate actions felt more universal than other adaptations of the play, as if they is reflecting the attitudes of an era rather than an individual.

Both characters had wonderful chemistry on stage and utilised the space of the stage animatedly, in what was a very energetic and entertaining back and forth relationship. The stage, along with the various levels and secret doors that the Drama Studio has to offer, were used dynamically to surprise the audience.

It was also great to see Petrucio get up and close and personal with the audience, by utilising the aisle as an acting space.It made his character feel all the more threatening and imposing.

The stand-out performances from the supporting cast were Gremio, who was at all times hilarious, over the top and yet believable as Bianca’s decrepit suitor, Tranio, who was very funny and immediately likeable and, finally, Grumio, who stood out not only for the performance, but for dealing with a lot of slip-ups in the production with successful improvisation.

However, despite the success of the improvisation, there were a few too many slip-ups, especially when it came to some of the intricacies of the language. Some of these slip-ups inevitably jarred the performance, despite the best efforts to gloss over them and to move onwards.

Occasionally, some of the scenes sagged and comedic moments of the play weren’t delivered successfully or in a stilted fashion. Certain scenes felt more amateur than others, but thankfully the majority of the play worked well and made for a satisfying evening’s entertainment (and I particularly appreciated the MOD scooter made out of what I believe was an appropriated shopping trolley!).