Lovely Shakespeare Night!

[plumtreeblossom]

Thank you to all the wonderful people who showed up for the Shakespeare On The Common outing last night -- too many of you to even list. There were Firsties, friends, and new folks to meet from tremontshul. We had a perfect night for visiting pre-show and watching Taming Of The Shrew, all snuggled up on the giant blanket(s). It was cool and humidity-free, and the sky was even so clear that there were a few visible stars over Boston Common.

I really loved their production of this particular play.


Always skeptical of non-traditional treatments of Elizabethan plays, the 1950s Italian-American motif really worked for me. They were 100% shameless in their milking of every double entendre and charged word, especially author-unintended ones born of changes in English language idioms ("Give him head!" actually meant "let him be in charge," but that didn't stop the giggles.) The actor playing Hortensio, a talented ART character actor usually wasted on servant and simpleton roles, was brilliant in how he turned a music lesson into a smarm-fest of dirty old man ickiness. The actress playing Kate was supurb, and even the final Kate speech, arguably one of the most sexist monologues ever written, was delivered in such a vampy, tongue-in-cheek tone that Kate retained lots of power, having traded the power of rage for sexual power.


The show runs through Sunday. I highly recommend it for those so inclined. It beats the pants off ART's stilted art-fart production, and is wonderfully human and clowningly charming. Thanks to all who came out!

Comments

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Also, a BDSM perspective shift helps.

I totally thought about that as I was watching the monologue, and Kate after it. That dynamic was there on a certain below-the-surface level that you could sort of smell but not quite see outright.

Do make a point to see this. I think you'll love it.