Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

Rio Arts puts a Chicago spin on Shakespeare’s classic farce

"The Taming of the Shrew," Shakespeare's comedic battle of the sexes, moves to 1930s Chicago in Rio Arts' sixth annual Shakespeare in the Park production in Riverbank.

The theater company will present two versions of the play — one staged by adults and another by youth. In addition, the new theater company Inspiracy Arts will perform its Central Valley playwrights' festival, "Caution: Hi-jinks Ensue," as an opening act on the final day of the production. The show is at Jacob Myers Park.

"It is a really funny play," said Kristy Cappell, 19, who is directing the adult staging. "It has a lot of action. People that are going to this show are going to come out laughing."

Cappell said the 1930s setting should make the play more accessible to a general audience.

"A lot of people don't understand Shakespeare, but people can relate to (this)," she said.

"Shrew" follows Petruchio (Kenny Lindberg) as he courts the shrew Katherine (Sydney Laurel), the most hot-tempered woman in her village. He hopes to marry her because he wants her family's riches.

Lindberg, a 21-year-old Modesto Junior College student from Riverbank, describes Petruchio as a free-spirited character who does whatever he wants. The hardest part about playing him is that he has so many lines, Lindberg said.

"He talks forever," he said. "They're just pages where he goes ahead and says whatever he feels."

Lindberg said he researched YouTube videos of 1930s movies to learn the old-time Chicago accent he uses for the character.

Laurel, a 19-year-old Oakdale resident, said she enjoys playing the shrew because she's not a static character. Katherine undergoes a major transformation in the course of the play, starting out angry and ending sweet and docile.

She said the show is great family entertainment.

"It can be really good relief in people's lives, especially the way the economy is," Laurel said. "People haven't been wanting to spend a lot of money. The play is free. Why not sit in the park in a lounge chair and watch Shakespeare?"