There is no shrew to tame in this feeble production of Shakespeare’s problematic comedy. With few redeemable qualities, Maria Gaitanidi’s production lacks the most basic clarity and does nothing to question the play’s misogyny. The best Shakespeare should make us feel that the lines could have been written this morning. This production makes his words as dry as flaking skin, and somewhat less entertaining to pick at.
There is a tumbleweed blandness to our leading couple, with not even the most cutting lines igniting any kind of frisson or fury between them. Melissa Riggall’s obedient Kate is more mouse than shrew, while Paul Ready’s charmless Petruchio is just tediously cruel. A bizarre wedding dance is the closest they come to an energetic back and forth.
There is a lack of coherence to the play as a whole, no doubt a result of the ensemble’s decision to go into rehearsals without assigned roles; intentions are murky across the board. Liam Bunster’s design has added extensions across the stage, but does more to obscure than enlighten.
When the characters switch roles, there’s scarcely any change in physique or voice. No one really seems to react to anyone else and some of the verse-speaking is painful. They don’t enjoy the puns, they flatten the insults, and the piercing jokes and gross instructions are thrown away. In a seemingly desperate bid to inject some energy on stage they occasionally, inexplicably break into song, with musicians plucking away in a corner like the last boy at a house party who won’t put down the acoustic guitar.
Crucially, if you’re going to stage this play today, you have to figure out a clever way to deliver the ending. Shakespeare writes that Petruchio’s abuse leads to Kate’s admission of women’s inferiority and their duty to obey men. In 2020, it’s a director’s job to twist the tone or take a stand. But no, this production charges unironically ahead. “I am ashamed that women are so simple,” Kate says without a trace of satire, and from my cheeks and fingertips I feel whiskers and claws start to sprout.
At the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London, until 18 April.
