PLAY REVIEW: Utah State Theatre Subdues Shakespeare's Work

I have always loved this tale of the taming of sassy Katherina, and the Utah State Theatre does a commendable job of bringing this story to life.

"The Taming of the Shrew" is the story of two sisters and their suitors. Kate, a "lusty wench," has no suitors because of her temper, and Bianca, her younger sister, has several suitors lined up.

Baptista, the father of the pair, decides that Bianca can't be married until Kate finds a man. So Bianca's suitors convince Petruchio to marry Katherina so they can have a chance at her younger sister.

"Shrew" is full of characters pretending to be someone they aren't, which adds a lot of humor to the show. Try this on for size:

Lucentio and Hortensio pretend to be tutors named Cambio and Litio so they can get closer to Bianca. So Tranio pretends to be Lucentio, and Biondello acts like a servant of Tranio. In addition, a Pedant pretends to be Lucentio's father, Vincentio, until the real Vincentio shows up.

But back to the story -- Petruchio marries Kate and is able to "tame" her, using various techniques including sleep deprivation and starvation. In the end, she is the best behaved wife at her father's house.

Most of the actors are talented and entertaining, which outweighs some of the downers of this performance -- namely, the set, the music between scenes and the hot Caine Lyric Theatre.

Cory Castillo and Amy Lewis do an impressive job of portraying my two favorite characters in "Shrew" -- Petruchio and "Katherina the Cursed." Lewis has the red hair so stereotypical of fiery personalities, and Castillo's animated facial expressions fit his part perfectly.

A pleasant surprise was Jeremy Kidd's portrayal of Gremio. Usually, Gremio's character doesn't stand out, but Kidd was hilarious as the bearded suitor. I wish he'd had more lines.

Other good performances were turned out by Vanessa Ballam Brenchley as Tranio and Brian Bahr as Lucentio.

The costumes were pretty good and fit their individual characters well. But the set left something to be desired. The background consisted of metal pipes and stairs and three miniature buildings hanging from the ceiling that were randomly raised and lowered. It wasn't bad enough to detract from the acting, but it definitely didn't add to the story.

I must admit, though, that I really liked one part of the set. In the final scene, a table complete with food and dishes was lowered from the ceiling. It was lowered vertically, meaning the dishes were all affixed securely to the surface. For some reason, I found that very entertaining.

I normally wouldn't mention something as trivial as 10-second bursts of music, but the songs played during scene changes sounded like an out-of-tune radio. They were staticky and distracting and took away from the setting of Shakespearean time that was set during the performances. The play would have been better off with silence between scenes.

"The Taming of the Shrew" lasts just over two hours, not counting a 10-minute intermission. It runs through Saturday at the Caine Lyric Theatre. Performances start at 7:30 p.m., and the show is free for students. Tickets are available at the USU Ticket Office. Previous shows have sold out, so get a ticket in advance. The theater is hot, so don't wear a sweater.

By Katrina Brainard; kcartwright@cc.usu.edu
Photos by Ryan Talbot