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>> DYNAMIC SHOW TAKES THE STAGE AT WASHINGTON SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY'S LANSBURGH THEATRE 'TAMING OF THE SHREW' DELIGHTS AND DAZZLES

October 11, 2007 12:35 am

By LUCIA ANDERSON

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

WASHINGTON--Director Rebecca Bayla Taichman is having a blast with William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," currently onstage at The Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre. With brilliant assistance from lighting designer Robert Wierzel, costume designer Miranda Hoffman and set designer Narelle Sissons, Taichman's "Shrew" dazzles and delights.

You will remember that this is the one where the father won't let his younger daughter get married until the bad-tempered older daughter is off his hands. Confident Petruchio, inspired by the size of Katherina's dowry, takes up the challenge of mastering this termagant. It is not a match made in heaven, but in the end, the two come to an understanding. Indeed, Petruchio and Katherina's marriage looks healthier than that of Bianca, the sly younger sister.

Modern audiences are apt to have trouble with Petruchio's methods--starvation and sleep deprivation--as well as his unwavering demand for complete submission on Katherina's part.

Still, it is possible to see this as an Elizabethan version of tough love, for Katherina is surely not going to be happy mured up in her father's house, a figure of scorn for everyone in town. At the end of this production, one can believe they've taken each other's measure and agreed to a partnership of equals, although, as in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" some are more equal than others.

Taichman concentrates on the fun that bubbles throughout this play, skipping merrily over any dark shadows. She has updated the action to some indeterminate modern period, allowing for such apocryphal events as a TV quiz show-style battle between Bianca's suitors and "ka-ching! ka-ching!" sound effects when Petruchio hears how big Katherina's dowry is.

She goes a bit off the deep end here and there, with Bianca being wheeled across stage in a bathtub during Hortensio's speech about her beauty, and Petruchio and Grumio coming to the wedding dressed in bridal gowns. But on the whole her staging enhances rather than detracts from the fun.

She is blessed with a strong cast. Handsome Christopher Innvar plays the dashing Petruchio to perfection, while Charlayne Woodard gives a vivid performance as the tempestuous Katherina. J. Fred Shiffman is delightful as Grumio, an aging suitor for Bianca's hand, though he does seem to be channeling Floyd King from time to time. Lisa Birnbaum is slyly demure as Bianca, while Michael Milligan, Aubrey K. Deeker, Bruce Nelson and Louis Butelli round out a fine supporting cast.

All in all, this version of "The Taming of the Shrew" is lots of fun.