Customer Reviews

The Taming of the Shrew (Broadway Theatre Archive)

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Riveting high energy interpretation of one of Shakespeare's more problematic comedies. The director's decision to present this somewhat sexist comedy as an over-the-top commedia dell'arte production was brilliant. Patruchio's use of physical violence to tame his headstrong finacee is somehow made tolerable because all the relationships in this play are embued with violence. And like characters in a Roadrunner cartoon, victims bounce back with vigor and always manage to give as good as they get. The troupe is incredibly in sync with one another, highly athletic, and incredibly gifted at reciting their iambic pentameter flawlessly while being twirled overhead or kicked in the groin. It really has to be seen to be believed. And who knew Marc Singer, the Beastmaster, could act?! In the end, he brings a subtlety to his part that leaves you wondering who's taming whom?

Harold Clurmann's interview with the director is a nice DVD extra.

I always liked the Zeferrelli film version of "The Taming of Shrew" with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton for reasons largely having little to do with the text of Shakespeare's play. That film is very much a visual treat, as you would expect from Zeferrelli, but I find I have a much better appreciation for the text from this ACT version which strips everything down to the dialogue and sends the actors out to do battle.

The impetus for this production is that the play is performed in the style of "commedia dell'arte," an Italian theatrical form that flourished throughout Europe from the 16th to 17th centuries (well, "The Taming of the Shrew" is set in Italy and the play was written during the 16th century, so it makes sense). This approach emphasizes ensemble acting and celebrates rich verbal humor, without disdaining physical comedy. However, do not expect to be seeing masks, because while that was key to "commedia dell'arte" where the mask was more important than the player because of the standardized characters (e.g., capitano, harlequin, pantaloon, etc.), this is not that traditional a performance. Of course, this does emphasize how much "Shrew" is like a traditional "commedia dell'arte"; you certainly have Zanni, the madcap servants, as well as the young couple whose love is thwarted by their parents with Bianca and Lucentio.

Watching this play certainly emphasizes the production over the individual performances. However, you will be allowed to indulge a momentary pause when you notice that it is Marc Singer ("The Beastmaster") who is play Petruchio. Harry Hamlin is recognizable in a bit part, but the rest of the cast has remained unknown, which, again, emphasizes the script more than the actors. Even Fredi Olster, who plays Katherina, has disappeared except for choice roles like the Woman in Hallway in "Burglar" and Judge Winters on "Walker, Texas Ranger."

The bottom line is that if I was interested in turning young students onto Shakespeare, in terms of the love of language and the joy in word play, then this ACT production of "The Taming of the Shrew" from the Broadway Theater Archive would be the one I would show them. Certainly the broad style of the comedy will drive home the various nuances of the Bard's language (although I agree with those critics who say Shakespeare is responsible for the main Petruchio-Katherina plot line and not the Bianca-Lucentio sub-plot). Besides, they will probably be excited to see the Beastmaster in action again.

It's hard to say which is my favorite available version of The Taming of the Shrew. Certainly the Burton/Taylor/Zefferelli film is the best movie version, but this filmed theater production has a lot going for it as well. First of all, the director, Kirk Browning, is one of our hidden national treasures. He has had a long career of bringing quality productions from the theater and from opera to the small screen. This is one of his crowning achievements.

Not everyone has had the chance to venture out to San Francisco and catch a live presentation from one of the top two repertory companies in the the nation, The American Conservatory Theater (ACT), on Geary st. in that fair city. This production catches a great company at its best. It is worthy of time-capsule status. This is from the golden era of theater and from a period when Bill Ball was still at the helm of an institution that has always had the highest reputation for quality staging and for a great ensemble troupe of players.

ACT has always stressed two aspects both in terms of training and production, physical dexterity (including energy) and vocal acuity (the resident speech trainer, Anne Fletcher, was one of the best in the business). This production highlights both. The actors have verve, panache and speek the speech "trippingly on the tongue." Marc Singer and Fredi Olster create the sort of dynamic interplay that unfortunately is all too rare in most productions of this play. They appear to be having a ball.

Singer also shines as Christian in another ACT production (Cyrano de Bergerac) which is also available in the Broadway Thater Archives series. An ACT fixture, Peter Donat, is the memorable Cyrano in that play. Those of you who only know of Singer from his role as The Beastmaster, will be pleasantly surprised at what a quality actor he really is.

I was 16 when I saw this production live at ACT in San Francisco, and quite frankly it is probably still the best live production of any of Shakespeare's plays I have ever seen. When I discovered this recording, I had to have it. You won't be disappointed when you watch this "Shrew" because it is so true to the original production. I have bragged for years to my friends that I saw this production live -- now you can share that amazing experience!!

This is the play that began my love of shakespeare! The exceptionally funny wordplay is mirrored by fast-paced slapstick which never fails to elicit gales of laughter. Marc Singer is the quintessential Petruchio and the chemistry between the leads is as good or better than that between Burton and Taylor in the more well-known version. This is terrific!!!

This is one of the best productions a Shakesperian play that you will ever see. The language is well spoken and the comedy bits are remarkable and 'work' with this production. I used a bad tape of this for twenty years for introducing tenth graders to William. Knowing that it is out again almost makes me want to go back to the little...dears. There is a production of the RSC of Midsummer's Night with Diana Rigg that is as enchanting and lyrical as this Shrew is bawdy and wonderufl. BUY IT NOW!

The ACT San Francisco production of Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew' is the best version of this play that I have seen -- live or on tape/film. Done in the commedia dell arte style popular in Italy during the Middle Ages, the actors perform on a single set built to resemble a plain wooden stage with no ornamentation. The cast is well up to the challenge, with Marc Singer and Fredi Olster excellent as the lead characters. The pace is fast, the jokes obvious, and I would recommend this version to anyone who wants to see 'the Bard' and acting at their best.

This is a commedy about a two unmarried daughters of a wealthy Italian merchant, and while there are many suitors interested in courting the younger, docile daughter, the father insists that the older one has to marry first. The problem is she is hot-tempered, both unwilling to marry and obnoxious to anyone who even makes an attempt to court her. The situation seems hopeless, until the right man shows up on the scene (played by Marc Singer) with a perfect strategy and here the fun really begins.

The setting and the costumes are intended to replicate to a certain extent commedia dell'arte and everyone is dressed in some form of white costume with red accents - except for delightful Marc Singer, naked to the waist, in tights ... together with all the verbal and behavioral persuasion used to tame a shrew, the way he looks helps, too, to make his task easier (he has half of the job done just showing up half-naked).
The entire persuasion strategy is exquisitely calculated - whatever he does is done only to the point of obtaining a desired effect, never losing control of the situation or of his objective - and throughout the entire process he comes through as a loving husband who only has his wife's best interests at heart.

As far as I know (which is admittedly not very far) this performance by the American (!) Conservatory Theater is the only Shakespearean comedy which is actually played as a comedy. All other stages play Shakespeare's comedies as if they were tragedies, or make them exceedingly boring as if to demonstrate that Shakespeare is much too serious to be taken lightly as entertainment. Well, it was meant as entertainment and not to scare away students and audiences.
I have never ever watched a play as fast as this one. I am fascinated by the sheer speed of successive scenes, and of the actore themselves. Ridiculous disguises, burlesque, grotesque and naughty elements all add to the fun. Literary historians claim that comedies in Shakespeare's time always included some element of acrobatics, and slapstick was a must.
Of course, all the boring parts have been cut out, thus reducing the play to only 90 minutes, but they are filled with action.
What is most interesting, and what I call intelligent acting, is that they they changed the original chauvinist message just by Katherina's facial play, her intonation and the wink of an eye - so mind the 85th minute! They didn't change one word of the original text and still the moral has become the opposite, even though Petruchio is played by a real he-man. He turns out to be the loser of the contest between the sexes.
If the director sticks to the old message, and all the others do, the whole play and especially "the last scene is altogether disgusting to modern sensibility. No man with any decency of feeling can sit it out in the company of a woman without being extremely ashamed of the lord-of-creation moral implied in the wager and the speech put into the woman's own mouth." That's what George Bernhard Shaw had to say about The Taming Of The Shrew. I think only mcp's could enjoy the original version today.

Since it was first produced, I have been turning students on to this exceptional version of the play. Drama kids loved it, of course, but so also did my "regular" English students, who were so enthralled and entertained that I would watch their faces instead of the show. The bawdiness and the sheer energy of the production, plus the sharp, clear interpretations by all of the actors, make the show unbelievably easy for all audiences to understand and enjoy. Shakespeare wrote for the masses, and this proves it. Only someone who is completely intolerant of all slapstick could fault any aspect of the show. It is not the 3 Stooges--it is biting, literate comedy of the highest order.