This past weekend, RMHS’s Drama Club performed William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. The story follows Baptista, played by Caleb Dion, and his two daughters Bianca, played by Margaret Sweeney, and Katherina, played by Olivia Lattanzi. Baptista will not not allow his younger daughter, Bianca, to be married until his older daughter, Katherina, has a husband. However, Katherina has adopted some nicknames over the years - including “shrew,” hence the title- thus not many suitors can survive her. Then comes along the equaling quarrelsome Petruchio, played by Matt Miller, with the goal of “taming” Katherina. Petruchio and Katherina are soon married, permitting Lucentio, played by Bryan Deroo, to marry his love, Bianca. If you have seen the movie, “Ten Things I Hate About You,” then you know how this story ends: Katherina falls in love with Petruchio. The Drama Club added a spin on Shakespeare's classic by making this performance a play within a play. Christopher Sly, played by Kyle Mungenast, was the drunk observer of the play. I often prefer plays over musicals, but this year’s spring play was not as strong as previous performances by the Drama Club. However, I still enjoyed the story and laughed occasionally with the audience.
In terms of performance, I felt that Margaret Sweeney perfectly portrayed the squeaky and innocent Bianca. Similarly, Olivia Lattanzi and Matt Miller did a great job playing the “shrews” of the cast. In particular, I found the exchange between Katherina and Petruchio when they first meet to be very funny, as Katherina jumped on top of Petruchio simultaneously offering jabs at his character. Of course, Petruchio recovered quickly by doing a few push ups to cover his fall and shaming Katherina, as well. The ending scene of Katherina coming obediently to her husband was dramatic, but also sad in my mind as although Katherina and Petruchio exchange a kiss before this scene. It seemed like Petruchio was only a “tamer” not a husband. But then again analysis of Shakespeare's plays is not my strong suit. I was impressed, as I’m sure with all viewers of Shakespeare productions, that the performers memorized all of those complicated lines in Old English. However, I wished that the Drama Club worked to maintain the Old English touch, while also making it a bit easier to follow. Perhaps this is impossible, but at times I was confused as to what was going on and faded out.
Not only did I enjoy Bianca’s performance, but I also liked her pink dress and veil that she wore, as well as Katherina’s red and gold dress. I couldn’t write a review of the costumes without mentioning Petruchio’s rather scandalous black shorts and plunging black v-neck (probably not school appropriate ha ha). Many characters also wore black or gold masks. Although these masks looked nice on, I did not understand their purpose: was it to exemplify a certain theme of the play?
In addition to the costumes, I really enjoyed the brief music played during set changes and transitions. I felt that the sound crew found the perfect songs to capture the emotions felt during the scenes, whether happy or tense. The sounds associated with Petruchio’s servant Grumio, played by Emma Chase, as well as other character interactions, were funny at first, but then became rather annoying. I would have prefered that there was more wit in the performance than extra sounds that took away from the acting.
As always, the acting of each character was great, but there were several moments throughout the play that seemed to drag on. The costumes and sounds captured the time period and feelings associated with the scene, respectively. In my mind, it is always nice when the Drama Club puts on a classic play or story, and thus “The Taming of the Shrew” was enjoyable in that sense - the play also ended before ten o’clock which is always a plus.
Another note that I haven’t ever mentioned in my previous reviews, but as this is my last one since I’m about to graduate, I thought I would include it: to whoever makes the double chocolate brownies, the “slutty” brownies, and/or the chocolate chip cookies, I always look forward to having one of these treats during intermission. Even if the production is not as good, I can always count on a delicious brownie or cookie.