Taming of the Shrew seen through a modern lens

Evolution Theatre's The Taming of The Shrew opens next Thursday.

Evolution Theatre Company is staging its first Shakespearean play The Taming of The Shrew this month with Dinna Myers in the director’s chair.

“There is currently a national discussion on the relevance of Shakespeare to modern society which I am closely observing,” Myers said.

Bringing The Taming of The Shrew to Gisborne audiences later this month, she wants to show that Shakespeare is still both highly entertaining and relevant.

“I find that New Zealanders when they do Shakespeare tend to set it in Shakespeare’s time — in which case it probably isn’t relevant anymore but all of his plays have universal themes,” she says.

“They’re all very much about humanity — the way we treat each other, the way we communicate.

“So I picked one of the hardest plays — one I felt was the least relevant to modern society if you’re not looking at it with a modern lens.”Myers has set the play in the early 1950s — the time when the men came home from the war and they took their jobs back.

“So women had tasted independence and freedom and then all of a sudden they were expected to get married and go back to menial labour like making aspic moulds again, and not every woman wants to make aspic moulds. Kate doesn’t — she is an independent woman. They call her a shrew in the play. But is she actually or is she just someone who says what she thinks, who has overt opinions and doesn’t kowtow to the men?”

In her role as National Administrator for Drama NZ, Myers has been part of the discussion around the relevance of Shakespeare in the 21st century.

She thinks by setting it in the 20th century, in the post-war era the themes will be as relevant as ever.

The Taming of The Shrew has an intricate comic plot — full of deception and disguise.

It  revolves around competition between Hortensio, Gremio and Lucentio to win Bianca’s hand in marriage. But at its centre is the attempt of one man, Petruchio, to tame the wild Katherina (Kate), and turn her into an obedient and doting wife.

Ultimately, society’s happiness depends upon everyone playing his or her prescribed roles. Through the motif of disguise, the play entertains the idea that a person’s apparel determines his or her social position, but it ultimately affirms that this is not the case.

“When you look at this play through a modern lens, the only way it still works is if, when Kate and Petruchio first see each other, it’s love at first sight and then the game is on.

“It’s that battle of the sexes. In our play they are made for each other — they are true partners — each one is as sassy as the other one and in order to have a happy life together there will have to be compromise.

Not everyone can have their way all of the time  and that’s what makes a good marriage so Kate has to learn to compromise a little bit and it’s probably about time she did.”

Myers says audiences can expect “high comedy”.

“Think The Three Stooges — this is meant to be bawdy and zany and it goes a mile-a-minute. It’s a good time.”

Dinna Myers is artistic director of Evolution Theatre and was the co-founder of Silicon Valley Shakespeare before emigrating to New Zealand in 2015.