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June 15, 2007
Bard on horseback
This year's Shrew has a Wild West theme.
BAILA LAZARUS
I thought I'd laughed at everything that Bard on the Beach had
to offer – ridiculous sword fights and wrestling matches between
topless, buff men; mistaken identities of brothers and sisters,
dukes and companions and, of course, twins; woesome wooing; and
the ubiquitous drunken jester. But nothing prepared me for a takeover
of this year's mainstage by spaghetti-western cowboys filled with
Clint Eastwood wannabes in a Wild West version of The Taming
of the Shrew.
Imagine the scene – a lone gunslinger struts bow-legged onto
the stage, right hand twitching by his six-shooter. We hear the
dramatic eight-note flute intro, followed by the sinister rattle.
A tumbleweed rolls by (no, seriously). But this time, it's not John
Wayne as a United States marshal who's come to help a stubborn woman
track down her father's murderer, it's Bob Frazer as Petruchio of
Verona, come to wed the stubborn Kate in return for a large dowry.
At the first "whooeee!" you know you're not in Shakespeare
land anymore.
While there was plenty of weirdness in the mixing of the western
and Shakespearian styles, most of the dialogue is kept true to course.
The Wild West theme is seen in the costumes, stage and scenery design
and the music, which includes saloon piano-playing, yodelling and
the requisite banjo. OK, maybe Gremio's offer of a copper mine near
Las Vegas in return for Bianca's hand in marriage is a little out
of character with the original script but, aside from that, and
one or two "awe shucks," the text doesn't waver.
Particularly hilarious were the compulsory Mexican characters, played
by Michael Scholar Jr.'s Tranio (servant to Lucentio, who falls
in love with Kate's sister, Bianca) and a late-in-the-play splash
by Bard artistic director Christopher Gaze, who pretends to be Tranio's
father. Gaze's rendition of an Italian man in a huge red and gold
sombrero, trying to cover a British accent while failing at adopting
a Mexican one is so funny that a single "By jore leeve"
sends the audience into convulsions. Even the actors on stage have
trouble keeping their faces straight and have to hide their inappropriate
grins by turning away.
Sound effects, which include gun shots, fireworks and galloping
horses, also do a great job of setting the scene and evoking laughter,
which started at the opening scene (a square dance), and didn't
let up until the final applause.
Frazer deserves a lot of credit for carrying off the serious take-no-guff
cowboy, amid the audience's chuckles and the Jewish community's
own Scholar deserves second billing, keeping the Mexican accent
going and even managing to intertwine a John Wayne drawl at one
point. Derek Metz is hilarious as Petruchio's sidekick, the double-fisted
gunslinger (immediately reminiscent of Bugs Bunny's Yosemite Sam).
Yee-haw!
Least convincing, and almost painful, was a surprisingly empty delivery
by Haig Sutherland as Hortensio, who sounded like he was just trying
to get the lines out one after the other, with barely a conscious
pause or change in tone. And Kate's father, Baptista (Duncan Fraser),
seems to fall randomly in and out of a Southern accent.
The Taming of the Shrew runs until Sept. 21. Call 604-737-0625
or visit www.bardonthebeach.org
for tickets.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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