BWW Reviews: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Brockley Jack Theatre, October 3 2014

It is, of course, the taming in The Taming of the Shrew that sits so awkwardly with modern sensibilities. So how do Immersion Theatre solve the problem of a bright, spirited woman's abject submission to the will of a cruel, ruthless man?

There's theories aplenty to explain away Katherine's change of heart and excruciating closing speech, but here's what I took from directors James Tobias and Amy Gunn (what a good name for this play!).

Rochelle Perry's Katherine is more than merely angry when first we see her - she is positively sociopathic, torturing her sister Bianca (Lisa Lynn) in a 1960s East End, in which violence is the answer to most problems. When she meets Petruchio (James Clifford), he metes out similar treatment to her, denying her meat and sleep until she is tamed. But is there a Damascene Conversion off stage, in which Katherine sees the impact of her shrewishness on others and desists, turning in gratitude to Petruchio for his tough love? I'd like to think so.

Now the speech makes sense. With Katherine in on the deal, Petruchio can make bets about his wife's behaviour knowing that she will perform as required - the bets, with Katherine, all meek subservience, loading the dice, are won. But to retain her dignity, Katherine hams it up (Ms Perry is all fluttering eyelashes in a Mary Quant dress, but all business as usual when marching off with money and husband secured) going so far over the top that nobody would take her advice literally - least of all her! Whether this be the intention of Immersion Theatre's production (at the Brockley Jack Theatre until 18 October and on tour) I don't know - but it's what I took away, gratefully so.

Phew! With "the speech" dealt with, one can turn to the rest of the play, which is a splendid romp with Shakey's usual barrage of disguises and mistaken identities leading to love, and death. Dan Dawes has a lot of fun with poor old Hortensio, yet another suitor for the much sought after Bianca, but one who runs out of steam rather early on, so he can become a full-on comic turn. Clive Keen and Jack Harding make a winning double act as role-swapping master and servant Lucentio and Tranio, whose pursuit of Ms Lynn is fired by a succession of shift dresses and PVC high boots, perfect for that 60s vibe. Liam Mulvey looms over the farcical goings on as a heavy presence, bringing the hurt to this violent world.

This company is unafraid of Shakespeare's more difficult plays - they've done Measure for Measure and this is their second crack at The Taming of the Shrew (their 2011 version reviewed here) - and for that they should be applauded. And it would be a shame if Petruchio's and Katherine's verbal jousting, beautifully delivered by Ms Perry and Mr Clifford who uses his crutch to great effect, were lost, swamped and emasculated by an overt explanation of Katherine's later transformation. That unravelling, rightly, is a job for each of us to do in our own way.

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