The Hudson Shakespeare Company returns for its 26th season of touring summer Shakespeare with a retro spin on Shakespeare’s classic war of the sexes romp – “Taming of the Shrew”. The action is moved from the 1590s to 1960s Italy and reintroduces the characters in this new period and foreign setting taking influences from Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and AMC’s “Mad Men”.
Katherina or Kate (London Griffith) is a well to do young woman who has very different views of the moronic men her mother (Sharon Cacciabaudo) thinks are good potential husbands for both her and Kate’s conniving sister Bianca (Hannah Coffey). Unimpressed with the current crop of hopefuls, such as the old and traditional wine merchant Gremio (Charlie Leeder) and the oafish wannabe musician Hortensio (Joesph Ramondino), Kate feels that no man can match her intellect and be a worthy match. However, some new arrivals to town are about to show both the opinionated Kate and her attention seeking sister Bianca to new possibilities.
Petruchio (Michael Gardiner), a well-traveled and well lived business man, has come to town to visit his old friend Hortensio along with his new bohemian and rough and tumble cousin Grumio (Katherine Gage). While Petruchio appears to have it all together, he’s growing world weary and is looking to settle down but not just with anyone, someone with money.
Hortensio seeing an opportunity to get closer to Bianca easily convinces Petruchio that Katherina would be a good match for him despite the fact that she has quite the fiery temperament. Hortensio needs to get Kate married off before anyone can next to Bianca. Petruchio accepts the challenge the court the uncourtable Kate.
While it now looks like smooth sailing for Hortensio, a new, suave student Lucentio (Tom Duke) and his crafty cousin Tranio (Kimmy Dunn) arrive to study at the local university. Lucentio, loving being away from home and falling in love with new surroundings also falls immediately in love upon seeing Bianca.
To get closer to Bianca, Lucentio hatches a crazy plan disguise himself as a nerdy tutor and Tranio helps him out by impersonating him trying to also court Bianca. The plan works but not to be undone, the usual button down Hortensio pretends to be a beatnick musician to get closer to Bianca. Bianca, loving the extra attention, gets more than she bargins for.
As Petruchio prepares to lock horns with Kate, he finds he has to outsmart her to get on her good side. Kate is both taken aback by this crazy lunatic of man but also has shades of something more, perhaps someone who can finally match her unconventional views.
Written in the early 1590s, “Taming of the Shrew” has been both a crowd pleaser filled with colorful characters and comic bits inspired by Italian Commedia Dell’Arte such as the Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton version and a lightning rod of controversy over the treatment of Kate. According to director Jon Ciccarelli the beauty of Shakespeare is that the same work can inspire so many different takes.
“Its incredible that these 400 year old plays can still inspire debate and new interpretations however you have to be careful that any choices are supported by the text. Shakespeare’s strength is that he can show both sides of an issue where you emphasize with them equally. Petruchio can come off as fortune seeking, misogynist however, Kate is also both physically and verbally abusive to people around her.”, he said. “However, by the end of the play both of them are endearing and you root for them to get together.”
In transposing the action to 1960s Italy, Ciccarelli wanted to try something new with the show. “I have seen both modern, New York set presentations, which I find a bit dull, and period specific which are more English based and wondering what else could I do with this.”, he said. Inspired by his parents newlywed years in early 60s Rome, Ciccarelli decided to immerse the action in the era and setting. “The production is very much inspired by pictures and stories that my parents shared with me about a time in their lives when they first married and I thought this would make a unique take on an Italian set show about couples getting together.”
The Hudson Shakespeare Company has been touring to Shakespeare and modern titles to NJ parks, libraries and other civic locations since 1992.
Production Dates:
Wednesday, June 7th @ 7pm; Secaucus Public Library; 1379 Paterson Plank Rd, Secaucus, NJ 07094
Thursday, June 8th @ 7pm; Montclair Public Library; 50 S Fullerton Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042
Saturday, June 10th @ 2pm; Old Bridge Library; 1 Old Bridge Plaza, Old Bridge, NJ 08857
Monday, June 12th @ 7pm; Frank Sinatra Park; Hoboken, NJ
Tuesday, June 13th @ 7:30pm; Fort Lee Monument Park; Palisade Ave & Angioletti Pl, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Thursday, June 15th @ 7pm; Hamilton Park (9th st and Jersey Avenue); Jersey City, NJ 07302
Tuesday, June 20th @ 7:30pm; Fort Lee Monument Park; Palisade Ave & Angioletti Pl, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Wednesday, June 21st @ 7:30pm; Hackensack Cultural Arts Center; 101 State Street, Hackensack, NJ
Thursday, June 22nd, @ 7pm; Milburn Free Central Library; 200 Glen Ave, Millburn, NJ 07041
Tuesday, June 27th @ 7:30pm; Fort Lee Monument Park; Palisade Ave & Angioletti Pl, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Wednesday, June 28th @ 7:30pm; Hackensack Cultural Arts Center; 101 State Street, Hackensack, NJ
Thursday, June 29th @ 6:30pm; Hoboken Public Library; 500 Park Ave, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Saturday, July 1st @ 2pm; Stratford Library; 2203 Main St, Stratford, CT 06615
The company will be returning with 90s grunge inspired “Romeo and Juliet” in July and a horror-inspired Macbeth to North Jersey libraries in October. For more information on Taming of the Shrew and other upcoming productions, please visit www.hudsonshakespeare.com .
