The Taming of the Shrew

I happened to order online a DVD version of The Taming of the Shrew. When I received the packet the day before yesterday, I found out that it was not the film directed by Franco Zeffirelli that I originally wanted, but some stage production by whoever... I was disappointed that I had made such a silly mistake with ordering something else than I wanted. However, only after a minute or two of watching the performance, I was not entirely sure if it was really a mistake, and when Petruchio stepped on the scene, I suddenly realised that this was actually the luckiest choice of DVD I have ever made. Petruchio and Kate are both so lively and wilful. (I do not want to say that the other actors did not do their best - they are ALL wonderful, but Petruchio and Kate are my favourite characters.) When Kate is weary and sad, Fredi Olster has tears in her eyes... The whole cast are playing for the audience, not for the stage, and they do not miss a chance to communicate with the people. It must have been an exceptional and unforgettable experience to see this performance live. For me, it was exceptional even on the screen, and I am sure I will not forget it - I have already seen it twice...

I saw this San Francisco Repertory Theater production in black-and-white when it first aired in 1976; I haven't seen it since, but I still remember it. I've searched for it over the years, and contacted PBS and WNET to see if it can be run again, or if the videotape can be purchased. >

It was this performance that sparked my interest in Shakespeare. I don't quite know any higher compliment I can give it. I was 11 or 12 at the time, and Shakespeare was foreign to me despite being the same basic language, yet here it was, so live and real.

I haven't given it 10 of 10 merely because of its slight shortcomings within the medium. This show was for a live audience, and was filmed for television, not made for television. It's simplicity is charming, though.

It works. Watch this show and see what Shakespeare should be. I only wish I could have been there live to see it!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Now that I've read the other reviews, I find it fascinating that everyone has the same comment that they remember it from 20+ years ago!

It is a great pleasure to review something you liked twenty years ago to find that it is actually better than you remembered it. Such is the case with this production of "Taming of the Shrew"

This is not only by far the most lively and good-natured version of the play I have ever seen on stage or film, but it also seems to be directed in accord with the commedia dell'arte tradition that has surely been very much on Shakespeare's mind when he wrote the play. There is a multitude of 'in-your-face' gags (the audience is never lured into the deceptive ruses of naturalistic theater, but are constantly made aware of their own presence) and scores of Italian 'lazzi' - stunts of every kind. We have a remarkably acrobatic duo in Kate (Fredi Olster) and Petrucchio (marc Singer), and their first scene together - where every piece of Shakespearean lewdness is brought out to us with a vengeance - is rewarded by a full minute of accolades from the delighted, live audience before which the production was filmed in 1976.

Of all in the cast I only knew Marc Singer, and remembered him only from a sci-fi series ("V"?) and a Harold Robbins series (Park Avenue 79?), but this is truly his claim to fame.

If you never see another Shakespeare play in your life, be sure to catch this one. After 25 years of searching in vain, it was finally brought to me by the miraculous combination of the internet and my visa card. Brave new world, indeed!

Years ago when I first saw this production I was mesmerized. More than a quarter of a century later I can still say that it is the best rendition of "The Taming of the Shrew" that I have ever seen. Thoroughly enjoyable, it appears to follow the original Shakespeare in exactly how I imagine it was meant to be performed for Elizabethan audiences. The actors "played" to the crowd. The bawdy wit was obvious as I am sure it was designed to be. The characters interacted with one another as they would have appeared before an Elizabethan crowd but the dialogue was masterfully spoken in a manner completely understandable to a modern audience.

Marc Singer was wonderful. Truly the best performance of his career.