For the second year Lovers
& Madmen have presented outdoor Shakespeare in West Hollywood's beautiful Plummer Park and the quality
of these shows is first rate. This year it was the famous Battle of the Sexes wherein
the beautiful but bad-tempered Kate is being wooed near to death by the
audacious and clever Petruchio. The excellent cast, under Bruce Cervi’s
forceful direction, are at full throttle and the enthralled audience is full of
glee to see this bitch tamed.
The challenge for any
production of Shrew is to neutralize the terrible misogyny of the play.
Shakespeare might have been having troubles with his wife Anne Hathaway at the
time (maybe) but in this romp he certainly lauded a man’s ability, through bodily
strength and shrewd psychology, to break a fierce woman’s spirit.
Sorry guys. If you are
presenting this play you have to deal with what’s really going on. Petruchio is
an adventurer looking for a rich wife and he doesn’t care if she’s fat, old or
ugly. So much for a hero! Kate has an annoyingly gorgeous younger sister, who
all the men are after, and who is also their father’s precious darling. To make
Kate so beautiful (no matter what a character says in the play) causes
immediate disbelief. Hey, with her looks and her $$$ there would be a dozen
young fortune hunters willing to tolerate her bad moods. After all, what are men’s
fists for if not to knock some sense into contrary women. It’s been going on
for centuries and Will Shakespeare should be ashamed of himself.
At least in Merchant of Venice
he gave Shylock a chance to show his side of the argument. Years of contempt,
mockery and persecution made him hard. But all Will gives Kate is a really bad
temper.
Breaking her spirit becomes the sport of the play and as I watched this
superb production I grieved that they did not try to bring some other focus to
it.
It can be done. I saw A. J.
Antoon's rambunctious production in Central Park eons ago with Tracey Ullman as
Kate and Morgan Freeman as Petruchio and what a match! She gave him as hard
knocks as he gave her and in her final Lord & Master monologue she did
indeed place her hand under his foot but only to toss him across the stage amid
his, and the audiences, roars of laughter.
In this Plummer Park version,
beautiful slender Charline Su and handsome virile Joshua Thomas were both in
top form playing the traditional battle of dominance we expected. His abuse of
her is certainly an effective comeuppance for having such a nasty disposition.
However, the punishment does not fit the crime so the laughter at the violence
done to her (and also to his servants) revealed an audience that apparently
looks at cruelty as just another theatrical device.
I hope Lovers & Madmen
will not be discouraged by my snippy comments and will be back next summer, with
their excellent company, to bring Will alive again. But please, do not present
Titus Andronicus or I will have to picket the venue!
