"The Taming of the Shrew"

   Taking the stage this week at Marshall University is one of Shakespeare's most beloved plays - The Taming of the Shrew. But as you'd expect, they're bringing an interesting twist to the performance.

   Paul Sebert filed an excellent story about the show in today's Herald-Dispatch, which you can read right here.

   Here's an excerpt from the story: 

   A classic comedy gets an update as William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew will be presented by the Marshall Theater Alliance at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse this week.

   The show will take place at 7:30 p.m. April 23-26.

   The classic comedy is being reimagined just in time for the bard's 450th birthday. In the classic romantic comedy a woman by the name of Bianca wants to get married, however her father Baptista forbids her to marry until her short-tempered, sarcastic sister Kate finds a husband of her own. Kate finds an unlikely suitor named Petruchio who engages her in a battle of wills and wits.

"We alternate between Shakespeare and a musical every other year," said Jack Cirillo, program director of the Marshall Theater Alliance and the play's director. "This is a Shakespeare year, and I enjoy working with Shakespeare's text and I think it's a good educational exercise for our students, particularly the actors working with that language. One of the challenges of Shakespeare's text is making it accessible for our audience.

"Because a lot of people's first experience with Shakespeare has to do with being in an 10th or 11th grade classroom reading the text, sometimes Shakespeare gets a bad rap," added Cirillo. "By modernizing it, we added a spoon full of sugar to make the medicine go down. I try to find ways to Shakespeare to be enjoyable and an exciting experience for our audience. During my time here we've done about six of Shakespeare's plays and I hope to do about as many more."

"We encourage families to attend," Cirillo said. "This should be a good family show. It's very funny, and I think anyone in junior high or older will get a lot out of it.

Showtime is at 7:30 p.m. General admission is $20 with tickets for faculty and seniors being $15. Tickets for children ages 5-12 is $7. Admission is free to full-time Marshall students with a valid ID. Tickets can be purchased at the Marshall University box office or over the phone at 304-696-2787.

(Photo by Sholten Singer)