Scintillating wit with a tongue as sharp as nails, the incomparable Katherina played by Simone Walker in this year's Shakespeare Outside production of The Taming of the Shrew was superb.
She looked magnificent in costume and her poise was well matched by Richard Rugg's passionate performance of the bumptious Petruchio.
The humour of Shakespeare's comedy was well delivered at an excellent opening to the Shakespeare Outside season on Wednesday night.
The play follows the "moulding" of "Cursed Kate", independent in thought and word through to the biddable model of wifely submission, and it is to the credit of the whole cast that this was achieved so effectively.
Earnest suitors to the beautiful younger daughter who couldn't be wooed until her awkward elder sister was wed added to the pathos and humour as did the cheek and ribaldry provided by Steve English's entertaining and lively portrayal of Grumio, the reluctant servant.
Excellent costuming set the scene to early last century and the elegance of the dresses and the dapper men's
clothing emphasised Kate's haughtiness, her consequent fall from pride and then elevation to an almost regal
partnership with her vanquishing husband.
The performance was well received by the audience and provided a thoroughly enjoyable experience of one of the wittiest of the Bard's plays. Performances run daily until the final matinee on Sunday, held in the atmospheric and lovely grounds of Te Amorangi Museum.
For show times and in formation visit shakespeareoutside.wordpress.com.
