The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew โ a theater party
To kick off the celebration of TEC's 60 years of activity, and in fond remembrance of Carlos Avilez's legacy, we brought together a cast made up entirely of actors from the company and former students from several generations of the Cascais Professional Theater School, which he founded at just the right time.ย
We chose The Taming of the Shrew, by the young Shakespeare, directed by Cucha Carvalheiro. A comedy of errors surrounding Katharina and Petruchio, an unlikely couple who turn a city upside down in their encounter... and several misunderstandings.
The plot of this comedy was inspired by a story well known to the original audience, about the โtamingโ of a woman rejected by a patriarchal society that considers her โa beastโ for being rebellious and speaking her mind. Her father, Baptista, whom she accuses of wanting to โsell her in the square,โ wants to get rid of her: Katherina, the beast, must marry before her sister Bianca, supposedly obedient and exemplary, can also marry. So he offers a valuable dowry to anyone who wants to
marry Katherina, and locks Bianca in the house, away from her various suitors, allowing only teachers to visit her to instruct her. Petruchio, a boastful aristocrat who loudly flaunts his wealth, agrees to marry the โshrewโ Katherina, with an eye on the dowry.
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Meanwhile, Bianca's suitors use disguises to enter her father's house as teachers and court her. Petruchio manages to marry Katharina and proposes to use methods inspired by falconry to โtameโ her and make her an obedient wife. After several stratagems and quid pro quo between Bianca's various suitors, she secretly elopes with her chosen one, Lucentio.
In the end, Katharina, the new โexemplary wife,โ makes a speech of apparent surrender before the other brides: a stubborn widow and a sister who is only apparently docile... but the speech is entirely for a husband to whom she promises everything he needs to win the bet with the other grooms about who would be the best tamer, with the real outcome being marked for the bed, just the two of them.ย
As always in Shakespeare, a story of very dubious morality is converted into something much more nourishing. Cucha Carvalheiro's staging brings so much life to the protagonist that her surrender is not even illusory to her Petruchio, and in fact, they tame each other after falling in love - without ever admitting it - becoming Shakespeare's โhappiest couple,โ according to Harold Bloom.
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More information: TEC | 968 780 966 | acontecenotec@tecascais.com | Opening hours - Wednesday to Saturday from 6 p.m., Sunday from 2 p.m.
Organization: Teatro Experimental de Cascais
