How’s this for the start of a cracking plot synopsis of a Shakespeare play: “1590s. England is a matriarchy”.
This is the juicy provocation of Justin Audibert’s gender-switched take on the canon’s most problematic offering: the women are in charge, which gives us “Katherine the cursed: that’s a title for a man”.
This Katherine is, indeed, a man — and his mother Baptista is looking to marry off her two sons to suitable wives. Shrew is, let’s not forget, meant to be a comedy but I don’t recall laughing at it before. I chuckled continually here, not out of see-how-you-like-it spite but at watching a stage full of women getting to puff themselves up with the sort of pompous pride that comes from a sense of entitlement. It’s easy to forget the rarity value of this.
Claire Price’s Petruchia, with her wild, confident wig of ebullient curls and bouncing stride, is determined to tame Joseph Arkley’s “froward” but wealthy Katherine. The appealing Price makes this tamer practical rather than spiteful and there is, interestingly, real love between the pair at the end. This interpretation has become almost impossible to play with a female Katherine.
Audibert’s reading also allows us to enjoy a rare traditional dress production; it’s delightful to see the RSC in full flow with an array of sumptuous Elizabethan costumes.
This is not a perfect production — the scenes with the wooers of Bianco (James Cooney) seem to drag on — but it is a landmark one.
In rep until Aug 31 (01789 331111, rsc.org.uk)
