The Taming of the Shrew/The Tamer Tamed
November 2–4 & 8–10
As William Shakespeare’s influence and renown continues to dominate the theater scene, this month, one Lafayette College production will add depth to our appreciation of early modern drama with a mashup known as The Taming of the Shrew / The Tamer Tamed.
We’ve seen the shrew tamed in myriad incarnations of Shakespeare’s play over the decades, as every effort is made to make a story of spousal abuse palatable to modern audiences. In fact, The Taming of the Shrew was answered soon after it came out by one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, John Fletcher, who penned The Tamer Tamed 10 years later. Kate, the wife Petrucchio tames in Shakespeare’s play, has passed away in Fletcher’s, and his new wife, Maria, is about to give him a taste of his own medicine.
Echoing the story of Lysistrata, the play’s women band together on a sexual strike. “That’s where Petrucchio starts paying attention,” says Suzanne Westfall, professor of English and theater at Lafayette who’s tailoring these two plays into one chronological tale. The Tamer Tamed far eclipsed the popularity of Shakespeare’s play in its time, put on for the king and queen and loved by all.
“It’s bawdier and funnier,” Westfall says. “It’s clearer and more straightforward, and ends with the message that the genders need to come together with respect for each other.”
Here’s a chance to compare Shakespeare’s traditional take with the revolutionary, influential theater of his peers. Westfall’s production will feature the salacious folk songs of the era while plotting a course in set and costume design through suffragettes and pink hats as skirmishes between the sexes continue.
If you’ve ever been frustrated or disappointed by the ending of The Taming of the Shrew, come see the story continue to the more equitable ending.
$10 | 2 & 7:30 p.m. | Buck Hall | 219 N. 3rd St., Easton | 610.330.3311 | theatre.lafayette.edu
