The Taming of the Shrew

 

 

"Cat Thompson traces an engaging arc in the evolution of Katharina (Petruchio's Kate) from sharp-tongued willfulness to oddly subservient but still feisty wife.

Thompson grounds Kate's fury in the pain of an older sibling at the doting favoritism her father (a solid Stephen Klum) lavishes on her flirty-girlish and deceitful younger sister Bianca (Alexandra Matthew).

 

 

 

Her relish of physical combat pays off well in a swordplay wooing scene with Darren Bridgett's Petruchio. And when she hits Kate's big final speech, Thompson muses through "A woman mov'd is like a fountain troubled" as if she were just discovering an important truth about herself and her marriage....

 

William Elsman's smitten Lucentio and Julian López-Morillas' doddering Gremio, rival suitors to Bianca, find the otherwise buried treasure in Shakespeare's lines (as well as interpolations). A low-key Lucas McClure, as Petruchio's servant Grumio, is another standout."

--Rob Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle