The Theatre department at WIU continues to bring entertaining productions to Macomb. They are currently performing “The Taming of the Shrew”, which is a classic play written by William Shakespeare. This rendition of the play is directed by Carolyn Blackinton. Many people may consider Shakespeare’s work to be boring and difficult to understand. However, I think “The Taming of the Shrew” is a play many people can identify with.
“The Taming of the Shrew” is a play about a man who is trying to “marry-off” both of his daughters. The younger daughter is a beautiful and sought-after, while the eldest daughter is mean and does not get along with anyone. The father decides that his eldest daughter must get married before his youngest daughter does. Since there are so many wealthy suitors after the youngest daughter, a couple of them conspire and pay another man to “tame the shrew”.
Does this sound familiar? If so, it may be because the popular film “Ten Things I Hate About You” (starring the late Heath Ledger) is a loose adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew”. The cast did a great job in this hilarious play. There are a lot of jokes in the play that are similar to the TV show “The Office”, where the actor shoots a weird look at the camera (or in this case the audience) behind another character’s back.
Another element to the play was the “in the dark factor”. Shakespeare is notorious for having characters conspire against one another, while leaving other characters in the dark as to what is happening. “Romeo & Juliet”, “Othello” and “The Taming of the Shrew” have deviant characters that plot against each other, usually for the chance to marry the heroin of the story.
Overall, Carolyn Blackinton did a great job directing a difficult play. It is not always easy to be funny and dramatic at the same time, but this version of “The Taming of the Shrew” effectively did both. For those interested, the play is being performed tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in the Hainline Theatre. For more information, visit the WIU theatre department website by clicking here.
David
