Shakespeare On The Lake: The Taming Of The Shrew

I made the 3-stubby trip out to Ellebrook last night to see this Upstart offering. I must say I was well rewarded for the effort. This is a top-shelf show, and what's more, it's free! The stage is a paved circle about 25 metres in diameter, with about one third of its circumference bordering the beautiful artificial lake, the other two thirds surrounded by terraced amphitheatre. There is no set, but in the circumstances, one is hardly necessary or appropriate. Because of the vastness of the performance area, entrances and exits were all made at a run, which added to the overall energy of the piece. Sight and sound left nothing to be desired however. Director Garreth Bradshaw owns up to "borrowing" influences from sources as diverse as Commedia dell'Arte and Monty Python. I think I detected some 'Marx Brothers' and 'Three Stooges' as well. Certainly, it required a thorough understanding of the narrative for the script to be trimmed to size for maximum belly-laughs. Of course, the success of the play necessarily depends on the strength of the two leads and in this production, Michael Lamont as Petruchio and Joanne Williams as Katherina are positively pumped, albeit not so much Burton & Taylor as Punch & Judy. Together with a very talented support cast, they keep the fun coming throughout the 2 hour run so that one has no call to dwell on the sexual politics of the piece. Some housekeeping suggestions: plan to get there well before the 7 pm sharp start-time, otherwise you may miss the fore-play bit. Also, it seems de riguer to bring snacks and drinks a la outdoor cinema, although there are limited refreshments available at the venue. And if you happen to be one of those who think that all Shakespeare is as tiresome as flying fox droppings, this may well be the show to convince you otherwise. Well done, all!

I saw Upstart Theatre's production of Taming of the Shrew on the first night last Friday and then again last night as I enjoyed it so much the first time.Although Stinger has already given a very adequate review I feel the need to redraw attention to this production as tomorrow is the last night and this is an effort highly deserving of a maximum last night audience. I worked with the two leads in a play nine months ago and last week I became a member of Upstart via this website but have had no interaction with them and feel no obligation for undue kindness.This review may however be influenced by the fact that I have had a very enjoyable night and have returned home in an excellent mood. When reviewing Shakespeare, critics like to talk about the trade off between accessability and subtelty.This interpretation is highly accessable even by a self confessed lowbrow like myself and is about as subtle as a whoopee cushion The congenial atmosphere that is created by the informal friendly ambience and beautiful surroundings and no doubt helped along by the odd foray into the esky, lends itself to a light,audience friendly interpretation witout a lot of cognitive work required. This is exactly what director Garreth Bradshaw gives us, this production is played shamelessly for laughs and gets them.It is about energy which at times borders on manic,and pace which is mostly furious It is a riot of slapstick comedy and melodramatic action reminiscent at times of the silent movies.At two hours including intervel it is a trimmed down version and omits the somewhat unneccesary(to my mind)induction scenes with christopher Sly There is no set and lighting consists of four floodlights enhanced for last nights performance by a perfectly positioned full moon,very effective. Costumes are sensibly light and simple but effective Sound was a performance in itself, musical director Tara Spackman adds much to the humour in the show with The help of an electric keyboard, drum kit,melodica,toy xylophone,kazoo, bell and kitchen pot.You know you are at the unsubtle end of the spectrum of Shakespeare interpretations when you get drums giving boom booms at some of the jokes.This production is about fun,however, and fun it was, evidenced by much laughter and spontaneous applause from the audience.After interval Sarah hands the sound over to Director Garreth Bradshaw and does a very nice job with the roles of the pedant and the widow.Oh and she also sings before the show and during interval. I am often amazed at the quality of amateur theatre nowadays especially compared to the sixties and seventies. I assume this is due, to an extent, to the level of training available nowadays at institutions such as Curtain, Waapa etc.back in those old days about all you could get locally was drama classes at Patch Theatre. Everyone in this cast looked as though as though they were either quite experienced well trained or both.I was particularly impressed by the way the actors in the more active roles handled movement. The two leads Michael Lamont and Joanne Williams gave highly impressive high energy performances and worked wonderfully together as they ploughed their way through Laurel and Hardy Three Stooges type routines including such subtelties as hand biting,head butting and crotch kneeing. They give a whole new meaning to the word foreplay.Both performances are excellent with Joanne Williams in particular showing an enormous talent for comedy and giving one of those performances that people like to use words like tour de force for. Patrick Downes gave a highly charismatic performance as Grumio he developed a good raport with the audience straight away and became one of their favourites. Cameron Clark as Hortensio and the taylor gave outrageous, over the top performances which I can only descibe as Stan Laurel on speed,he was also an audience favourite. I have a mild hearing impairment and usually miss a lot of dialogue in plays,This was no exception, although it was better than average especially with the two leads.However this is the second play I have seen Grant Watson(Baptista Minola} in and he is one of those rare actors Of whom I never miss a word,he is a fine actor with near perfect(to my ears) enunciation and modulation and I find him a joy to listen to. The rest of the cast Cary Hudson, Jessica Banaszak, Grace Edwards, Rhiannon Eastman and Nathaniel Moncrieff all give solid, confident performances and show a flair for comedy. This is quality theatre in a beautiful environment That is totally free, my only expenses for the evening besides fuel were an unsolicited donation for a programme and three dollars for a softdrink and a sausageinabun I hope we get more upstarts like this,particularly with the laudable mission of providing quality accessable theatre free to the masses.