Summer Shakes
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| An Evening with Summer Shakes |
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| Hampton Roads Shakespeare Festival 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Finally, the evening forecast did not include rain.� I, together with my daughter, both in the car with ninety minutes, till the "curtain call," not even the thirty plus minutes of bridge traffic was going to keep us from seeing The Taming of the Shrew, that night.� Summer Shakes, Inc. was presenting the play written by William Shakespeare in 1592, for all five weekends in July.� The acting company would be performing at 8:00 p.m., in Virginia Beach on an outdoor stage located in Seatack Neighborhood Park.� | |||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� Following the directions from the Internet made it easy to find Seatack Neighborhood Park.� The park is just off east bound Interstate 264, behind the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Facility ("Calendar").� The parking was in a grassy field that opened at the far end to greeting and donation tables.� Behind the tables were five huge flying banners.� Once we walked passed the banners we were at the rear of the seating area and beyond the seating area was the stage.� The seating was in two sections; the one closest to the stage for those sitting on blankets and behind them was the seating for those who brought chairs to sit in.� Amanda and I had brought our Redskins blanket, so we squeezed in amongst the dozen or so in the blanket section.� Then spreading-out our blanket we made ourselves as comfortable as one can sitting on the ground.� It was a few minutes to eight, so we quickly looked through the program.� Having seen only one Shakespearian play before, neither of us was sure what to expect.� We did however, instantly recognize the stage scenery as an Italian piazza.� This is because we lived in Italy for two years and spent six evenings a week in a piazza ourselves. | |||||||||||||||||||
| ����������� The audience was cheerily greeted an actor and his pup.� He thanked everyone for coming out for that evening's performance and shared how important the donations collected that evening were to the continuing works of Summer Shakes, Inc.� Then, it was straight to scene one.� Opening the play, was Baptista (father of two daughters) tuning his radio to a typically mature man's station.� After Baptista exits, then enters the eldest daughter, Kate (the shrew), who instantly chooses to tune in a more modern and hip radio station.� As these two characters volley the radio stations back and forth; as we started to notice two men that appear to be about Baptista's age.� These men seem to be searching for something; one of them is even using binoculars.� Then upon the rooftop appears the younger daughter, Bianca.� In her tiny swimsuit, Bianca seems to flirt with the two older men that are ogling her, but every time her father reappears, she covers herself and behaves modestly.� Drawing no attention from the men, Kate is obviously rebellious to her family and her place in society.� The men discuss the fact that they would both like to be suitors to Bianca, to which Baptista stated, he will not consider suitors for his youngest daughter, until his eldest is suited.� While it is obvious why no one wants to suit Kate, the two men set out to figure a way to get her suited, so they can suit Bianca.� On cue, arrives to town a jolly fellow named, Petruchio.� He would like to have a wife; his primary requirement is that she have a large dowry.� Both of Baptista's daughters will have large dowries.� After several more amusing acts the two daughter's relationship is defined, their personalities brought to the surface.� Kate is the "butt-head" or as the play's title says "the Shrew" with everyone. �Bianca is the"sweet girl" everyone wants to spend time and be around.� Both, with the consent of their father, have acquired suitors although Bianca's suitor is by name, Lucentio; the correct fellow, who her father believes to be Lucentio, is really Trainio.� By the week?s end, Kate is married to Petruchio.� She is completely miserable with this decision.� After the wedding she and her husband return to his home, now her home too.� This is a daunting time for Kate; usually she is the one in control and making havoc.� Now, she is the subject of her husband's control and havoc.� | |||||||||||||||||||
| The newlyweds return to Kate's hometown for the wedding of her sister.� The wedding takes place and the "who's who" of Bianca's husband is determined.� The entire cast then gathered on stage for the final scenes, Bianca and Lucentio's wedding reception.� Kate now blissful within her marriage to Petruchio is a shining example to everyone of what a humble lady and wife she has become.� Petruchio exemplifies this, by making a wager as to whose wife would return to the presence of their husband first.� He wins the wager and request that Kate go and retrieve the other's wives.� Kate does so immediately. �With everyone present, a lesson on why not to be a "Shrew" was taught by Kate.� This astounds everyone, except Petruchio, who knew that these changes had taken place within Kate.� | |||||||||||||||||||
| After two hours of being completely and enjoyablely entertained, the "Shrew" was tamed and lived happily ever after; or at least that is what I understood from the play.� The use of� the "60's" as the period time added to the clarity of the play's theme, without this the meaning of Shakespeare's words would have been totally lost by me.� Like I stated in the beginning, this is only my second time seeing a Shakespearean play.� The whole event was definitely worth the time it took to get there.� I was not aware of the painful stiffness that had set in (this is remarkable, I'm highly sensitive to pain) until the play was finished. The Summer Shakes, Inc. has many other programs that they offer to the public, besides their performances in the park. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Works Cited | |||||||||||||||||||
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| "Calendar." Summer Shakes. 11 July 2006. <http://www.summershakes.org/calendar/index.shtml> | |||||||||||||||||||
| ReTuRn To InDeX | |||||||||||||||||||