I have season tickets to the Shakespeare Theatre here in DC. It's an expense that I will never regret. I have yet to see a show there that has not blown me away, and last night was no different, but for different reasons.
Last night I saw Taming of the Shrew. Summary as follows: Bianca is the younger daughter of a rich gentleman and everyone wants her, but her father will not marry her off until her older sister, Catherine, is married. But Catherine is a nag, a harpy, a shrew - she's willfull, outspoken, ferocious and unrepentant. What's a suitor to do? Enter Petruchio who wants a wealthy wife, and thus agrees to court Catherine, making the way clear for those who desire Bianca. Let the courting begin. And thus we get to my favorite first scene between bonnie Kate and Petruchio.
O, M, G, that scene was so HOT. She's willful and independent all right, like a mare that needs to be broken to the saddle, and he is the man to break her. He plays her rough - grabbing her as she runs by and pulling her to him, holding her arms to her sides, pinning her down, wrestling with her as she struggles, grabbing and pulling her hair, planting unwanted kisses on her, all threaded with witty banter and sharp tongued repartee. Am I the only one who thinks this is HOT?!
He turns her world upside down, withholding food, sleep, cleanliness until she submits to his will. She gets what she wants ONLY when it comes as HIS reward for her obedience. He says the moon... if she say the sun, well, back we must go, until she says male for female or sun for moon because, clearly, what He says needs be Her Truth. And in the end she monologues on how it is through service that she gives her best to he who is her husband and deserves no less.
Now, I knew the plot line before I went to the theatre. I have a BFA in Theatre and had worked this show doing summer stock. But I had never thought of it in these terms, and I even remember being frustrated that an independently minded woman needed to be "tamed." Oh, good my lord, I see it differently now.
Yum, yum yum, yum, yummmmm. And yes, I know it was actually the way women were viewed in society at that time in history, and not a kinky D/s statement, but let me have my fun!
Shakespeare. Who knew?
M. Makael Newby, 2007 - All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment