The reading yesterday was delightful. I am continually amazed at how well just reading the words out loud without a lot of "acting" conveys the characters and plot. A couple of people have asked why I don't "cast" the readings. Switching voices prevents anybody from putting too much spin on any character, and keeps the focus on the words alone. I really like going around the circle to keep everybody involved. We're truly reading together as a community!
Jive! Digital Printing Question of the Month -- What did you notice in Saturday's reading of The Taming of The Shrew that you didn't realize before? (Leave your comment below)
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On thing I noticed is that Shakespeare doesn’t offer much to explain Kate’s arc from shrew to June Cleaver. That bugged me when I read it long ago, but I figured I missed something. Unless Petruchio is reprogramming her through deprivation, I still didn’t catch how the actual “taming” happened. Good staging could really do the trick, I think. If actors showed that Petruchio and Kate were plumb smitten with each other from the start, then Kate’s final speech could be something she’s been longing to say to P. all along. Is there a director in the house?
Also: I don't think I had read or seen the Christopher Sly induction before, and I kept waiting for him to return as a closing. The play doesn't return to that frame, so it kind of reads like a cartoon before the feature. Not that I’m complaining. I guess the scholars have thematically tied him to the play somehow.
I think the taming does happen through deprivation, Matt. "She ate no meat today, nor none shall eat. Last night she slept not, nor tonight she shall not." By the time they are on the road home and Kate says, "sun it is not, when you say it is not; And the moon changes even as your mind. What you will have it named, even that it is; And so it shall be so for Katharina," she's tired and hungry and unable to fight anymore. However, I LOVE the idea of playing that they are smitten from the start. Her habit is to fight, but through his outrageousness, Petruchio teaches her that you can get what you want much more easily by being playful. In the end, the happy couple walks away with a lot of cash and a respectful partnership. When Petruchio truly likes Katherina, it plays as much more of a comedy and the ending is truly happy.
Hearing these first two comedies in a row was interesting. Isn't it amazing that Shakespeare's sense of humor still works on us today? Confusion, puns, wit, innuendo (VINCENTIO: Art thou his father? PEDANT: Ay, sir; so his mother says, if I may believe her.). He still makes us laugh 400 years later and a continent away.
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