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Sam has reviewed our production of Taming of the Shrew

With this little review of “Taming of the Shrew,” I feel that it would be very easy to fall into the trap of reviewing the writing rather than the actual performance. As I see it, this would be the natural course to take as Shakespearean pieces always seems to be viewed as texts to be analysed, whereby deep and meaningful inferences should be explored and examined, picked apart. However, being the first time I have actually watched a Shakespere play, it was nice to sit back and see it as something to be enjoyed rather than explored.
Nostell Priory was, I thought a rather nice setting for the performance and (at the start) the weather was somewhat of a delight. With it all being outside, I did worry that hearing everything might be an issue.  Nonetheless, Black Company managed to communicate to us in quite an amicable fashion, making it easy to follow the story without having to think too much about the language used. All of this was further supported by the performances that they each gave in terms of expression and their own understanding of the text and this bought a new dimension to what I usually only have the opportunity to see in written form.
Yasmin, who played Katherine, is worthy of a mention. Her portrayal was excellent and, at times, quite hilarious, and our initial impression was one of a very gutsy, sharp tongued young woman. The initial chase around the stage was well done and anger fuelled and I feel as if it could easily have looked slightly half hearted or false. This was not the case though, and violent chasing became quite a common theme.

It is commendable that Black Company decided to tackle a full length Shakespere play. Primarily, the length of the play was a little longer than most that we see and, on top of that, there were all the challenges of working with the more difficult language. Despite these things, Black Company’s interpretation of the play most certainly did not become tiresome and not once did I feel compelled to check my watch. It was made to be both funny and serious which seems to be rather a winning combination.  

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