The Taming of the Shrew
at Footsteps Theatre Company
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
In her program notes to this Footsteps Theatre production director Jean Adamak acknowledges the play’s difficulty: “Choosing…The Taming of the Shrew may seem odd for a women’s theatre company.” Indeed, today Shakespeare’s comedy about the courting and marriage of two very different sisters doesn’t seem terribly funny. But Adamak and the Footsteps cast and crew have restored my love for Kate in this, their fifth all-female Shakespeare production, opening my eyes to a much deeper reading of a finely crafted comedy. Here the match between Kate, an outcast in her hometown of Padua because of her sharp tongue, and Petruchio, an unrestrained and equally lonely person, is comprehensible, and the turnaround at the end is more about their bonding and growth as a couple than about Kate’s subjugation.
The deft, highly physical Dawn Alden plays Petruchio with such passion and virility that no one should ever doubt casting a woman in one of Shakespeare’s male roles again. Alden uncovers Petruchio’s wild spirit and brings it to life in such a way that gender isn’t an issue. Sparks fly between Petruchio and Kate as they do between any two people meant to be lovers; it seems right they should be together. The chemistry between Alden and Borglum permeates the play, from the intrigue of their initial meeting to the silences accompanying their return to Padua for Bianca’s wedding, and their deep understanding of each other by the end is completely believable.
Green Highway’s ambitious setting of The Duchess of Malfi in the Roaring Twenties represents an attempt to link the play with the prosperity, loosening of morals, and changing roles for women of the Jazz Age. But beyond Rachael Howard’s art deco set, Joanna Lowenstein’s 20s-style costumes, and the music used between scenes, no effort has been made to define the characters by the times. This vagueness makes me question Winter’s intentions; if she wants to prove the timelessness of The Duchess of Malfi, she needs a much deeper exploration of the play itself. It seems she was grasping for a concept rather than embracing the script. And despite some naturally feeling scenes, the principal actors too often fall into a breathy delivery or yelling. Despite its ambition, this production proves to be yet another attempt by a young company at a play too challenging for its resources.
