Combined Theatre Company presents ‘Taming of the Shrew’
Pix courtesy Combined Theatre
Following their reawakening last year (2016), with their production ‘Playing Doctor’, the Combined Theatre Company is back with another production. This time around they will stage Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ at the Lionel Wendt on July 21, 22 and 23.
We caught up with production directors Vinodh Senadeera and Delon Weerasinghe during the week. The pair tells us they hope to give the audience an experience of what it was like, back during Shakespeare’s day by sticking purely to the script and revamping significant areas of the Wendt to resemble the Globe Theatre in London.
During our conversation, Vinodh recalls that the first few productions of the Combined Theatre Company, back when it started in 1993, were original theatre. This was even so with their play last year. He adds that as a theatre company, they have always wanted to do comedy, because of its wider appeal. ‘The Taming of the shrew’ is no different, owing to its hilarious nature.
To him personally, the production brings back many good memories. Recalling them Vinodh goes back to 1992,when S. Thomas’ College staged ‘Taming of the Shrew’ at the Shakespeare drama competition. Here Vinodh was awarded the best actor for his portrayal of the Shrew.
Currently the art director at the Colombo International School, Vinodh also teaches the play as an Advanced Level text. He tells us the comedy is certainly an interesting one. While the most striking part might be Katherine’s (the shrew) and Petruchio’s key roles, if you look at the script as a whole all the other actors also have a direct appeal in the plot.
“Delon and I felt that it was about everybody and that was an important element,” he says. For Vinodh, his favorite part of the play is the taming process. He tells us, they will be sticking to the script and will not be modernising the play, though the message they look to deliver is the empowerment of women.
In terms of his own directing, Vinodh explains that he lets the actors decide what to do. “I give them a lot of leeway, when it comes to their characters.” He however wanted the actors to speak the language naturally, the wayShakespeare wrote it. This he adds was a daunting process and the cast had to work on it.
Vinodh is closely supported by his former student and now co director, Delon, who is a talented director.
Delon explains that he loves working with Vinodh and believes they bring about the perfect balance when it comes to directing the play. “I’ve come to it fresh and I bring new eyes to it, whereas Vinodh has directed it several times and has acted in too, so there’s a nice balance to it.”
He adds that ‘Taming of the Shrew’ is a play that everyone is familiar with and the two directors have settled on making it into a sort of a “love story,” he tells us. He adds that through the story, Katherine and Petruchio sort of tame each other in the end, thus making it a relationship between equals.
“Obviously though we’re staying true to the text and it’s open to interpretation. We want everyone to have a good time,” he says.
From an onlooker’s point of view, this play is perhaps one of Shakepeare’s most critiqued pieces of work it portrays the patriarchic, misogynist nature of society at a certain point in time, thus drawing several criticisms against it.
However perhaps, the bard meant to actually champion women’s rights, through his portrayal of the absurdities that Katherine (The shrew) is put through by her husband. Maybe Shakespeare was trying to question the values of society during his time after all.
Aside from the disagreements and agreements, the drama is nevertheless packed with humour and encapsulates Shakespeare at his best. Tickets are priced at Rs. 2000, Rs.1500, Rs.1000 & Rs.600 (Unreserved) and available at the Lionel Wendt Box office. For online purchases and cash on delivery visit www.lionelwendt.org
