The Taming of the Shrew

This is mind numbingly bad. Camp acting, gabbled lines - they clearly assume the audience will not understand anyway, so they just play it for slapstick. Absolutely no redeeming features. All directors should watch this to understand how to make a make a mess of Shakespeare. Avoid at all costs. It is badly cast, poorly acted, badly directed and the critical taming scenes badly cut. This is just the sort of rubbish that puts people off Shakespeare and it is entirely the fault of the production and not at all the fault of the material. If you are studying the play, this will not help your understanding one bit. In fact you'd be better watching "10 things I hate about you" for all the liberties it takes.

People forget that Shakespeare was essentially a genre writer. Today he would more likely have been whipping out episodes of Mad About You or Another World than penning Merchant/Ivory pics.

So while this version's visual approach of being lit and edited like a soap opera may take some getting used to, the approach is not as much of a stretch as it might at first seem. Yes, at first glance, it's easy to dismiss the production values as cheesy, since the approach is so unlike what we have come to expect of televised and filmed Shakespeare. But ultimately the more "common" visuals help clarify the play's meaning.

And while the acting styles are a little uneven - the leads generally maintain a daytime soap sensibility grounded in realism while some supporting characters play with much more broad, theatrical strokes - the direction pushes the story forward at a breakneck pace. The constant movement imbues the bard's words with contemporary energy.

This is actually a great version to show high school students - the relationships are clear and identifiable, the language is kept intact but made accessible through the medium, and the fast paced direction will keeps interest high.

The Bard Shrew reduces the play to a Punch and Judy show with Kate and Petruchio doing more roughhousing than wooing. Kate punches Petruchio in the jaw and knocks him to the ground. He grabs her from behind, and she flips him over her back. Kate bites Petruchio's hand, and later, he bites her toe. There is much struggling on the floor and bending of knees into awkward positions.

Nothing in the production moves very far beyond farce. Everyone on stage sighs whenever Bianca is mentioned, and the entire cast leans whenever anyone says "Pisa".

Lucentio makes an unsuccessful attempt to quote a Shakespearean sonnet, and Petruchio and Hortensio act as though they are afraid of being struck by lightning when the former mentions thunderclouds and the latter mentions Katherina Minola.

The costumes and the acting are equally garish.

I recently watched the four "Taming of the Shrew" versions on Netflix. The Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford version was a short experiment into talkie by two well-known silent film actors; Pickford was horrendous. Franco Zeffirelli's version was entertaining, but Richard Burton stole the show in what is supposed to be an ensemble play; Elizabeth Taylor played the violent Shrew better than anyone but couldn't pull off the submissive part. The cerebral and dramatic version with John Cleese was the most provocative, but, honestly, it put me to sleep.

The play is Shakespeare at his most misogynistic and is a challenge to make accessible to a modern audience. The director must use every device to lighten the tone and smooth the brutal roughness of Petruchio's lessons. And this was the only version that delivers.

One of the strengths of this version lies with the fact that Franklin Seales (Petruchio) and Karen Austin (Katherina) play it almost straight: Petruchio is honestly trying to woo Kate and she in turn falls in love with Petruchio. And that is the key to making the play work for a modern audience. The rest of the cast relies on slapstick and visual gags allowing the audience to relax and not take too seriously when the two protagonists go at each other. The cast is strong, and kudos to David Chemel for giving the best performance of all the Lucentios (better than Michael York). Bruce Davison as Tranio stole every scene he was in.

After viewing four versions, I finally realized where directors are going wrong with this play. Kate must fall unconditionally in love with Petruchio somewhere between the end of the tailor scene and the beginning of the sun/moon scene. Anything later makes Kate's submission more jarring as in the Zeffirelli version where she appears to have been mentally abused and her final speech forced. The sun/moon scene thus becomes far more entertaining and light-hearted as the couple realizes that they are madly in love. And Kate's final speech and Petruchio's reaction comes across as the couple's wedding vows that the two weren't ready to say a week earlier. This version gets it almost right and should be considered the template for any director trying to update this most difficult play.

Now to tone down my praise: the movie is a staged version filmed on a static set. It looks like a play shot with three cameras simultaneously, like a sitcom. It is not a Hollywood version by any stretch. Taylor was the best Shrew, but Austin played a better Tamed Shrew. If we could just put them together with this script and Zeffirelli directing we may yet end up with a Taming of the Shrew everyone could love.

This is not a movie, but rather a filmed play, hence my rating. Teachers should use this version for instruction into how Shakespeare may have staged his play.

Directed by John Allison William Shakespeare wrote the original play Music by Gerard Bernard Cohen

There are several versions of "Taming of the Shrew" floating around out there. Each with its strong points.

Howard Keel's Embrasse-moi, chérie (1953) is the closest to the original.

Richard Burton La Mégère apprivoisée (1967) is the most flamboyant and fun. But this animal has no socially redeeming value and lacks any memorable actors.

This film counts on camp to distract from the bad acting and pore timing. It is worse than a high school play. Karen Austin as Katherina is more sex than a shrew. Everyone else is just doofus.