KEY POINTS:
If you like your Shakespeare straight-up in a traditional theatre you may want to steer clear of Shrew'd, which is total immersion Bard-antics for the YouTube generation.
This energetic and inventive production was inspired by Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and John Fletcher's answer to that play written 17 years later, The Tamer Tamed.
It features the talents of the 10 winners of Auckland Theatre Company's first "open-call" auditions who lead their audience on a merry dance around the Tapac centre in Motions Rd from the lawn outside and then on and around the stage.
This is an ambitious project - to take 10 people who have never worked together before and create a new show, based on the Shakespeare work, in just 18 days. The scale of the production is also ambitious, moving the cast around different locations and incorporating song, choreographed dance, boxing and slapstick performance. A couple of the actors even ride scooters and drive a ute and it all happens in just 70 minutes.
There is tremendous energy in the cast, who performed well on preview night with no noticeable nerves. They literally throw themselves about the stage and pull out all the stops to win over the audience. But at times there is a little too much bluster and broad humour and it would be nice to see them turn down the volume and inject more emotional depth into their performances.
Julia Croft and Omar Al-Sobky make for strong combatants as Kate and Petruchio, proving that there are no winners in the battle of the sexes. Adapting The Shrew for modern times is always difficult and, in this show, the strength of will of the leads is so evenly matched that the love story gets a little lost.
In the supporting cast, Rudi Vodanovich creates some memorable moments as Grumio and Robin Kerr is an equal partner in crime as fellow servant Mario. Vasa Tasele is a dignified centre of silence in all the noise with his performance as Kate's long-suffering father, Baptista. And Luke Bird and Omer Gilroy almost steal the show in their turns as Rod and Stella, hosting the production.
I also have to salute Chris Neels, James Wenley and Darryl Wrightson for their moxie. These guys missed out on selection but volunteered to be crew and have inveigled themselves into onstage roles as servants, suitors and also clowns throughout the show.
On the design side, a mixture of seasoned professional and new talent work together to create a gaudy, fun platform for the actors.
Most impressive is Simon Coleman's set which used a maypole structure, picture windows and a tower on wheels to great effect. Estella Macdonald is a new designer but her Italy-in-the-50s glamour is a winner and she could be one to watch.
Andrew Malmo's lighting design is best in its use of lights as props - coloured festoons on the maypole, fairy lights in a narrow corridor and lampshades that fall from the sky along with a double bed - but at times it seemed under lit.
Director Margaret-Mary Hollins is to be applauded for creating a cohesive "graduation show" for the young actors that is ambitiously spectacular. It is a fun start to the year for the Auckland Theatre Company. If they repeat the exercise next year, hopefully they will give their young stars more time to shine.
REVIEW
What: Shrew'd
Where: Tapac, Western Springs, to Sunday
Reviewer: Shannon Huse
