Summer in the city means Shakespeare in the Park. In this On Stage report, NY1’s Roma Torre reviews Public Theatre's production of "The Taming of the Shrew" in Central Park.
Try as any one might, there is no taming "The Taming of the Shrew." Shakespeare's comic ode to misogyny is tough to swallow in these enlightened times, but kudos to Phyllida Lloyd and her all-female company for making a game effort turning the gender tables in this season's first of two Shakespeare in the Park productions.
It begins with a beauty pageant featuring the smarmy voice of a male host who sounds suspiciously like Donald Trump. That is where we meet blond contestant Bianca and her combative sister Katherina. She is a wild one, presumably untamable, and that's the obstacle that prevents the younger Bianca from getting married. Their father insists the older sister should be wed first and he is willing to pay a lot of money to any suitor who can get the deed done.
Enter Petruchio, a cocky fellow who happily takes the plunge and proceeds to break his wife's will through cruel and torturous means.
There is simply no way in these modern times for such a plot turn to fly. Therefore, Lloyd's solution is to suggest, curiously, a circus setting in a southern backwoods. It is a messy satirical conceit scoring both hits and misses but the cast playing both male and female characters makes it highly amusing. Comedienne Judy Gold playing Gremio breaks from the text to do a very funny stand-up midway, and British actresses Cush Jumbo as the Shrew and especially Janet McTeer's Petruchio are clearly having a ball.
Given that there really isn't much interpretive wiggle room in Shakespeare's text, Lloyd's best counter to the play's misogyny is simply to show off some great lady talent, as if to proclaim - anything guys can do, the gals can do just as well and even better.