Review and incomprehension: The Taming of the Shrew
Yesterday I went to see the RSC perform the Taming of the Shrew in Stratford upon Avon. It was played uncut, very straight, and performed extremely well with all the characters being more than understandable. At a technical level I would therefore have to give it full marks. I have just one basic question about the performance
( Read more... )
Comments 14
(The comment has been removed)
I assume you mean The Merchant of Venice?
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
The only way I can make sense of it is as more to do with Domestic Discipline than sexual BDSM. Katharina clearly needed something to sort her out and what it took was someone who's more of a bastard than she is bitch. But that still makes me feel uncomfortable, because Petruchio needs something to sort him out too. And there's no evidence that their relationship has made him a better (or, frankly, less odd) person. In that time, the phrase 'safe, sane, and consensual' may not have been in use, but anyone should be able to see that Petruchio is not a stable enough person to be allowed that kind of control over someone 'in their best interests.'
So yeah. I am still hoping one day I will see a performance of it that makes everything suddenly clear.
Reply
I'd say that Petruchio needs far more to sort him out than Kate. Kate may have been vicious, but it seemed the viciousness of a child rather than deliberate in quite the way of Petruchio.
or, frankly, less odd
What's wrong with oddness?
Reply
Agreed. Have you seen The Tamer Tamed, out of interest?
There's 'unconventional' odd and 'keep him away from me' odd :-P
Reply
Alas, no.
There's 'unconventional' odd and 'keep him away from me' odd :-P
I'd have said that the trouble was that Petruchio was a sadistic sociopath rather than that he was odd. I like quite a lot of odd people and have an emotional reaction to odd being used as a slur along the lines of the one I have to "Black", "Jew", or other such terms.
Reply
Reply
Reply
I know. It's one reason I can't stand e.g. Little Britain. (And I understand the appeal of it).
Is laughing at Petrucchio destroying Kate so much less comprehensible than a comedian pretending to sexually assault a woman as part of his act?
Yes (bad as your example is). At least if you empathise with the characters when you watch. There are limits to the comedian example. Although in other ways it is worse because it involves a real person.
Shakespearean audiences attended public executions for entertainment; seeing a woman literally tortured into submission, when they knew it was just acting and in the context of a play full of witty banter, must have seemed pretty tame by comparison.
A very good point. :-)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment