Weekend Review : Theater : A Tame ‘Shrew’ at 10th Shakespeare Festival / LA

The shrew is tamed too soon in Shakespeare Festival/LA’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” now at the Japanese Gardens on the Veterans Administration grounds in West Los Angeles (and soon to appear Downtown and in Pasadena).

Susan Hegarty’s Katherine spits fire in her first encounter with Richard Ziman’s Petruchio. But in the wedding scene she takes Shakespeare’s stage direction “exit weeping” far too literally as she stomps off in exasperation when Petruchio still hasn’t shown up. The Katherine we saw in the first scene would be delighted by Petruchio’s absence.

Maybe it would work if the two of them had established an unspoken chemistry. But there were no signs of this. Ziman’s Petruchio is just a loud-mouthed, can-do fortune-seeker. Why would bilious Katherine stop sneering?

When she suddenly weeps over Petruchio, just before intermission and before the actual “taming,” the tension begins to evaporate, with half of the play yet to be staged.

Of course, the play being the thing, Shakespeare must shoulder much of the responsibility. From a modern perspective, it’s hard to fathom Katherine’s sudden reversal of heart. Her speeches offer no credible explanation. Each director seeks a way to pull it off, usually with subtle staging nuances. But the outdoor venues where Shakespeare/LA performs are hardly suitable for subtle nuances.

Here, Katherine ends her final speech with a gesture that indicates she has found a way to shut up the noisy Petruchio, at least for a moment. Good for her. But this little triumph hardly explains her overall surrender.

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The time and place of Ben Donenberg’s staging is “Zorro’s World.” Petruchio briefly dons a black mask and wields his sword in Zorro-like fashion. Yet unlike Zorro and some of the other characters in “Shrew,” he has no double identity, unless you count his self-contradictions during the “taming.”

At least the Zorro conceit justifies colorful costumes and quick snatches of Spanish, mariachi and pistol stunts. It’s not a very novel concept--Will & Co. staged a “Taming of La Shrew,” set in 1840s California, in 1993.

Donenberg directed the ridiculously complicated wooing of Katherine’s sister Bianca with clever, punchy comedy strokes. Most of this works well outdoors. He cut the Christopher Sly prologue.

Still, why do “Shrew”? Each year, Shakespeare Festival/LA takes pride in explaining Shakespeare to thousands of high school students. But “Shrew” requires an excessive amount of explaining. It’s an odd vehicle with which to celebrate the festival’s 10th anniversary.

* “The Taming of the Shrew,” Japanese Gardens, Veterans Administration, Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards, West Los Angeles: Wednesday-Saturday, 8:15 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Grand Hope Park, 9th Street, between Hope Street and Grand Avenue, Los Angeles: Aug. 3-5, 8:15 p.m.; Aug. 6, 2 p.m. Free with food donation for the Salvation Army Family Feeding Program. (213) 489-4127, (213) 480-3232. Grounds of Ambassador Auditorium, 300 W. Green St., Pasadena, Aug. 10, 12, 8:30 p.m.; Aug. 13, 4 and 8:30 p.m. $10-$12.50. (213) 489-4127. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.

Richard Ziman: Petruchio

Susan Hegarty: Katherine

Michelle East: Bianca

Steven Memran: Lucentio

Clive Rosengren: Baptista

Jerome Butler: Hortensio

Brian Joseph: Tranio

Patrick Thomas O’Brien: Gremio

David Francis: Drumio

John W. Gloria: Biondello/Merchant

Jack Manning: Vincentio

Antonino Pandolfo: Pedant

Steve Jones: Officer/Nathaniel

Beth Kennedy: Marjorie/Dancer

Nicole McDuffie: Widow

Christopher Neiman: Curtis

Thom Rivera: Tailor/Mariachi

Produced by Shakespeare Festival/LA. Directed by Ben Donenberg. Sets by Douglas R. Rogers. Costumes by Todd Roehrman. Lighting by Ashley York Kennedy. Sound and music by Robert Murphy. Choreographer Javier Velasco. Fight director Randy Kovitz.