Kiss Me Kate
Kiss Me Kate. My mother still talks about it to this day, the first high school play she was ever in. She acts like her performance was as good if not better than the those on Broadway. And to think I’ve never seen the show that is my mother’s “claim to fame.” (Well other than her short renditions she gave in the kitchen). But now it was my turn to watch the real show from the audience of the Rockwell, instead of our kitchen table.
The format of this show, a play within a play, allowed it to have another layer of depth. There was the plot behind the scenes, where we got an inside look at the actors’ lives beyond the stage, and also the plot onstage in their performance of The Taming of the Shrew. From the start, we see the all the chaos that goes into a show in the opening number “Another Op'nin', Another Show.” What a way to start a show! It dives right into this lively song and dance number with the whole cast on stage, while also introducing its main character. It’s certainly entertaining and it’s effective. As I watched it really opened my eyes to think about goes on even behind that fake backstage wall, where the real work happens. I found that even with this extra layer I never experienced any confusion as to what was happening before me.
Although the feelings of the actors often spilled over into their performances on stage, and their characters influenced their real life, it allowed the play a connection to each situation, and providing the audience
Not only did it help to aid in giving the viewer an idea of the setting of the play, but also aided in the over feel and mood of the production.
Sadly when I arrived at the theater I was not even sure I would be able to focus on the show, for my mother who was meant to see this production with me yet was unable to. Due to unforeseeable circumstances that neither one of us could for see and so with all of this hanging over head I was really hoping to get a laugh from this play, which it did. This was not the first time that I had come to see a play at Boise Little Theater, but definitely this was the first time that I had done it on my own. Which was a tad
In the play, The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare, there is a recurring theme of people hiding their real identity. First, there are cases of deception, such as Tranio pretending to be Lucentio, Lucentio pretending to be a Latin tutor, Hortensio pretending to be a music tutor. More complex than these obvious examples of deception are Shakespeare’s clever uses of psychological masks. Several characters in the play take on roles that do not agree with their personalities. The psychological masks that they wear are not immediately apparent to the audience, or even to the characters themselves, until they are unmasked through the course of the play. Shakespeare mostly uses this device with the characters of Katherina, Bianca,
“When love speaks the voice of all the gods makes heaven drowsy with the harmony,” Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, scene II.
In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen
Women in the era of Queen Elizabeth I were often portrayed through stereotypes such as, “The Good and the Badde” by Nicholas Breton. In this work women have desired traits such as loyalty, obedience, and innocence. Undesirable traits would be just the opposite, disobedience, raunchiness, treachery, loudness, and being outspoken. The play, “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare, plays heavily to these stereotypes with the two female main characters; Bianca and Kate. Whereas Kate plays the Un-quiet one in the beginning, but transitions to more of a quiet one or the good wife while Bianca plays The Virgin.
In essence, all Petruchio did was teach Kate not to be so brash and rebellious. He showed her how awful her actions looked, and on her own, she made the decision to change her demeanor. She could have remained bitter and feisty, but it would have been in vain, and I believe that she realized that her actions had been no worse than the vanity and shallowness she witnessed in the people of Padua.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare might appeal to Kalidasa because this play can be used to show the Hindu puranas and respect toward the deities. Kalidasa’s name means the “servant of Kali” which can suggest he is a follower of the deity Durga, who evolves in the form of Kali to destroy the demons. In the Taming of the Shrew, Katherine can represent the deity Durga/ Kali to reveal the two side of a female character. According to Hinduism, goddess Durga is the main force behind creation, preservation and destruction; similarly, a female like Katherine can very destructive by punishing her sister and being rude to her father. However, that same women, Katherine, can create a beautiful family bond and preserve the relationship with the force of love and affection. Furthermore, this play can be used to teach lessons toward the Indian society to treat women with respect and not consider them to be part of secondary status because of gender division or sexism. It can reveal to
A recurring theme throughout Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew is the impact of man's societal pressure and how society portrays them is clearly evident. The idea of breaking a woman’s spirit and making her subservient to her husband is primarily harped on throughout the story. We see an example of this by how Petruccio responds to his newly wed wife Kate. Petruccio uses humiliation, starvation, and sleep deprivation at his country house to transform Kates fiery and hardheaded personality to his ideal wife.
The time period of the Renaissance included many features or details that may seem incredulous to many people of today’s society. Some of which even include the inequality of men and women, and certain relationships of families which can consist of fathers and children or husbands and wives. In the play The Taming of the Shrew written by William Shakespeare, each character and the environments around them were greatly affected due to these features. In fact, the entire final outcome and result would be completely different if the time period of the play were not set in the Renaissance. In The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare uses the time period of the Renaissance to represent abusive power, and as a unifying device for culture, social life, and family life.
Battle of the Sexes would have been another appropriate title for this play because the entire play is women verses men, men verses women. This battle of the sexes shows no boundaries between the rich and poor, young or old, man or women. The basis of all the rivalry stems from the fact that the men in this play look at the women as if they were objects, instead of human beings with feelings. This theory that women are merely objects creates an environment that the women have to adapt to and survive in and the environment of a person will depict what he or she will become, resulting in a battle between the sexes.
The topic of transformation is focused on throughout Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and can be developed into the themes of as time goes on people change, people are influenced to change, and force can cause change in others. Shakespeare’s characters experience transformation throughout the play and therefore create the related themes, these changes and transitions are an important part of life, this concept of change can be seen throughout our world today.
Katherine makes this important speech after Petruchio tries to make her obey by ordering her to say that the sun is really the moon. Katherine is tired, hungry, and worn out of their conflicts. She is basically saying that at this point forward in her life, Petruchio might as well redefine her reality for her. With Katherine caving in with this speech, Petruchio's victory over her is imminent. She does not have the strength to resist his authority fully, and her taming is all but fully complete.
Comedic devises are mostly irony and they help a story like The Taming of the Shrew show it’s true meaning and various ways of keeping the audience captivated by its many exotic, amazing, and romantic scenes. Shakespeare expressed to us with comedic devices how Baptista wanted to give the hands of his daughters with men with high class. In this story, we can see how Katharina is a rebel woman who is not approving of being held to marriage with someone she doesn’t know or like. This is categorized as Family Drama from the very beginning.
This production ticks every box; from staging to acting, the play is refined down to absolute fluidity. Immersing themselves in the roles completely, the actors in the Old Vic production embody Miller’s characters in ways unparalleled by other performances. Seeing the actors wholly capture the raw emotions of their complex characters brings the play to life, and with their efforts, the audience feels so deeply along with them.