Shakespeare at the Lake puts new twist on ‘The Taming of the Shrew’
- Lake County News reports
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – When Shakespeare at the Lake stages its fourth annual production beginning this weekend, audiences will be treated to a very modern take on one of the Bard’s classic plays.
The free performances run Saturday, July 27, and Sunday, July 28, in Lakeport at Library Park, and Friday, Aug. 2, Saturday, Aug. 3, and Sunday, Aug. 4 in Clearlake’s Austin Park.
All shows start at 6:30 p.m. and it is recommended that you bring a beach chair or blanket. Food, beverages, and wine will be for sale.
Director John Tomlinson has added a bit of a twist to this year’s Shakespeare at the Lake production.
For modern audiences, “The Taming of the Shrew” is considered one of Shakespeare's problem plays. It can be considered misogynistic and offensive. Many actors and directors try to find an underlying motivation for Petruchio’s actions to bring balance to the show, but Tomlinson is trying another approach. He has decided to gender swap the roles.
The male parts are all played by actresses and the female parts are all played by actors. Now, there’s no cross-dressing in this production, it’s simply a swapping of the lines in order to examine how the words come across when spoken to the opposite gender for whom they were meant and to see how the dynamics of a relationship might change based on choice of words.
Laura Barnes plays the traditionally male lead, Petruchio. A longtime member and former board member of the Lake County Theatre Co., she appeared in the first Shakespeare production and produced last year’s play.
“Gender norms and beliefs are definitely challenged in this play,” she said. “As a cast, we had several great conversations about what we think it means to be ‘male’ and ‘female’ and how to portray masculine qualities as a female and vice-versa.”
She added, “This has been a very fun role for me. Historically, I tend to be cast as ‘the girl next door’ character, so Petruchio, a strong, bold, masculine role, is a refreshing change and a welcome challenge. I have enjoyed playing this part – so different from all the others I've played – immensely. It is a hoot to be the one wielding all the power. And there is so much humor in this show, too. We laugh a lot.”
The female lead, Katherina, is played by Zack Jordan. This is his third show with LCTC and his second year with Shakespeare at the Lake. He found his preparation for the role to be no different for his role than that for other roles.
“I learn the lines and scenes, I see how my character responds to others, their relationships and then build off that,” said Jordan. “The most challenging is having to understand what Shakespeare is saying. I think anything in regard to Shakespeare is difficult to really capture what he is meaning with the lines he wrote, and then trying to adapt that so the audience can understand it.”
He added, “I’m having a wonderful time playing Petruchio’s wife and working closely with Laura and how our characters are. And this is my second time working with John so I knew what to expect and how to work with that. Overall it’s been a pretty exciting experience!”
Barnes also had praise for Tomlinson and Jordan, “This is the first time in several years I've been in one of John's plays. I enjoy his style of directing. He allows the actors to make a lot of choices and add their own flavor to the roles. He has the big picture in mind and leaves it to us to fill in the details. This is a fun cast with several experienced performers. Zack (Kate) has been easy to work with and I feel like we are figuring out our characters and their relationship well together.”
For more information visit www.LCTC.us .