The Taming of the Shrew

****

Tue 5 Mar, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff

Jo Clifford’s witty new production of The Taming of the Shrew could easily have been re-titled The Taming of the Male Ego, subverting as it does the gender roles of the play’s characters, turning the women into power players and the men into social pawns. It works very well. A feminist retelling of one of Shakespeare’s less “woke” plots, the play has never felt more relevant. This is startlingly inventive theatre. Leave your expectations at the door.

The gender changes are cleverly done. There is not a direct transposition of the play’s male characters into female characters, but neither are characters’ names changed. Katherine does not become Kevin. Nor does the play become pantomime. Instead we are given a re-imagined world in which men are subject to the sort of sexism that women have experienced throughout history. Men no longer run governments, and a desirable husband is deemed to be a man that’s pretty but dim, essentially ineffectual. This subversion is reflected in the theatre’s seating arrangements; women are asked to sit downstairs and men upstairs. Not ideal, perhaps, if you happen to be on a first date.

But you won’t want to chat when the lights are down. There is plenty to enjoy here, including some wonderfully striking imagery courtesy of Michael Fentiman’s expert staging, along with some strong musical moments that never feel forced. Hannah Jarret-Scott’s Lucentio nearly steals the production with her guitar-wielding swagger, but she is part of a generously talented cast, all of whom are uniformly excellent, delivering dialogue and song with equal aplomb. In particular, Alexandria Riley dazzles as Tranio.

There are also a lot of laughs. Whoever said Shakespeare can’t be funny never foresaw this production. Playfulness abounds, and, pleasingly, men are rarely the butt of the joke (although at one point a man’s butt does get a laugh). It is ultimately convention that is being mocked. It is testament to the talent of all involved that the comedy never overshadows the drama of the emotional scenes, which are brilliantly done, and very moving when they need to be.

What stops the performance from getting a five-star rating is its last quarter, in which its sharp teeth begin to blunt. The initial promise of a complete dismantling of the play is not fully followed through as we reach a climax that ties itself in knots while trying to tie up loose ends. The ‘fourth wall’ is non-existent throughout the performance, which works to some extent, with characters talking to the audience more than they do to each other. But this becomes a little too arch as the cast explain their character changes and the reasons behind them. The joke wears thin. The plot itself also becomes thin, due to the source material, which is not easily moulded into a premise as meta as Clifford’s. The ending too, feels, muted; the anarchic first half of the production warranted something looser, less neat. Something wilder.

words Joshua Rees

The Taming of the Shrew is at the Sherman Theatre until Sat 16 Mar. Ticket and info here