TAMING OF THE SHREW | STAGE PREVIEW
The famous Shakespearean comedy is one that has had many adaptations (best known is Hollywood teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You) but is also one play that has been met with plenty of controversy: namely in the fact that it appears to be horrifically sexist, particularly by modern day standards.
Balancing the text without it feeling uncomfortably dated is a task Cardiff University’s long running drama society, Act One, has nobly decided to take on. Choosing to set their adaption in a 1960s office space, a great choice of a similarly less-than-gender-equal era and with a significant whiff of the ever popular TV series Mad Men, the production follows the employees of Padua Ltd.
Beautiful Bianca, the daughter of CEO Baptista Minola, is the object of affection for many of the men in the office. Minola, however, won’t have any man take his Bianca’s hand in marriage until his oldest daughter, shrew like Katherina, is wed first. Difficulties ensue when it becomes apparent that Katherina’s spiky personality makes her abhorrent company to the opposite sex.
Enter swanky salesman Petruchio, who is the only man to accept the challenge and ‘tame the shrew’.
The very plot of play can lead to uneasy watching, but can be countered with an original adaptation, and Act One’s 1960s concept certainly looks promising.
YMCA Theatre, Roath, Tues 11-Sat 15 Feb. Tickets: £8/£6 conc. Info: 07896 359 279 / www.cardiffstudents.com/actone
