Yasmin gives us an insight into taking on one of Shakespeare's controversial female roles...
I'm going to be playing Katherina in Yew Tree's performance of The Taming of the Shrew on Sunday 6th July at Nostell Priory and I'm really excited!
As soon as Sarah told us that Black company would be doing this play, I had my heart set on playing Kate. I love the idea that Shakespeare wrote an aggressive and rule breaking leading woman. I was already doing a monologue from taming of the shrew for my drama school auditions and so I knew about the character and the play before rehearsals started. The main challenge for me was that there are so many different ideas, thoughts and interpretations of the play and it's characters that's its hard to make your own decisions and stick to them.
The most obvious ambiguity surrounding the character of Katherina is whether or not she really has been tamed by her husband Petruchio by the end of the play or whether she is just putting on an act. Also, does she really love Petruchio? And does she believe that women should obey their husband's every command?
I don't know whether it was out of the fact that I hated the thought of a woman completely transforming her personality and beliefs for the sake of a man or whether it was just my instinct but I decided that at the end of the play Kate is just putting on an act. She hasn't been 'tamed' at all and Petruchio is aware of this. I did compromise though, by deciding that she had also fallen in love with Petruchio by this point, if nothing else but through the fact that neither of them fit very well into normal society and so they might as well stick together.
In the first few acts especially, it's so exciting to play a character that goes out of her way not to fit into society and follow the norm because in real life these days it's very rare that people tend to this (especially with the expectations that the media are constantly putting on women). She doesn't try to look sweet and pretty and she certainly doesn't try to impress anyone. The local men all appear to be scared of her and that's the way she wants it to be. Of course there are underlying psychological reasons for this, because of the way her mother treats her and the popularity of her sister, Katherina shuts people out because she is terrified of rejection.
It's a real challenge playing a person who is constantly so full of anger and so upfront about it because (I hope) it's so far away from the sort of person that I am. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of focus to be furious all the time but it's also pretty enjoyable.
The other half of Black company are performing 'Flawless' which Sarah has written. It is a modern day adaptation of Taming of the Shrew and it's great! I find it particularly interesting to watch Jess who is playing Kate. It just shows that there are innate aspects of the character that travel naturally through centuries. I think that Kate's refusal to conform and her fear of rejection are just as prominent in Jess' modern day version of the character and I find that really refreshing. I think it makes the Shakespearean version seem much less intimidating and much more relatable.
There are a lot of points where I want to give Shakespeare a text and ask him if he thinks I'm on the right lines with Katherina but hopefully he wrote the play ambiguously so that we could make up our own minds. I also like to think old Shakey was actually a bit of a feminist.
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