Bard on the Beach Returns for Its 30th Season with the Devilishly Delightful Taming of the Shrew!

“If I be waspish, best beware my sting…” 

-Kate, The Taming of the Shrew

Welcome Back Bard!  

The iconic, elegant white tents are up, the stage is set and the audience enjoys the ambiance in anticipation of the opening night of the Bard’s 30th season, a performance of one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, The Taming of the Shrew.  Set in frontier America in the 1870’s, it seems like the perfect setting for the wild and untamed nature of this play.  

As part of their vision for the Bard’s 30th anniversary season, artistic director Christopher Gaze and Executive Director Clare Sakaki are “looking both to the past and to the future” in their programming this year.  As a result, the BOTB is revisiting (and evolving) its immensely popular spaghetti western: Shrew (2007).  

Upon arrival, audience members can gain some insight into the play by dropping in on the ‘In a Nutshell’ feature led by Mary Hartman, BOTB’s Director of Education.  It includes an overview of the plot along with some of the unique elements of this particular production.  She addresses TOTS’s controversial nature, observing that it is a play that inspires many strong reactions. The BOTB has addressed this, on some level, by creating a vivid character in Kate (played by Jennifer Lines), developing an understanding of who she is and who she aspires to be and creating a production that “speaks to our evolving cultural expectations”.  While the play remains firmly mired in the cultural mores of the time in which it was written, the BOTB has not left it dangling there in irrelevance.  It has risen through humor and insight into a strong version of itself where we find a vibrant, never-fully-tamed Kate, an evolving Petruchio (Andrew McNee) and examines, on some level, what it means to belong and be accepted for who you are.   

TOTS finds that strength through the nuanced performances of its cast.  Their comedic timing is spot-on and crucial for adding an element of irony to some of the more unpalatable places in the original play. The matriarch, played by Susinn McFarlen, (multiple Jessie Award winner) has decreed that no one may court the beautiful Bianca until her older sister, Katherine is wed.  This is tricky because Katherine is known throughout the town as ‘Shrew’; a wild, loud and uncooperative woman.

Petruchio, played by Vancouver-born actor Andrew McNee (recently seen in Public Schooled and Grand Unified Theory) is a raunchy, brazen cowboy, determined to ‘tame the shrew’ and win her dowry.  What he finds along the way is a spirited partner and, love. Jennifer Lines (who has performed in nearly 40 Bard productions) is an energetic and sassy Shrew.

As well, I found the performances by the supporting cast: Kate’s vacuous and beautiful sister Bianca (Kate Besworth), her suitors, Gremio (Scott Bellis) Hortensio (Anton Lipovetsky), and Lucentio (Kaymar Pazandeh) and comic sidekicks, Tranio (Chirag Naik) and Grumio (Joel Wirkkunen) were dynamic and hilarious. The musical score, organized by Sound Designer Malcolm Dow has taken the original spaghetti western compositions of Marc Desormeaux and by “reimagining how it works, has created a musical backdrop that both supports and surprises.  

If you are unfamiliar with ‘Shakespeare-ese’ and worry about being able to understand the dialogue, put yourself at ease.  This play lends itself very well to the matching of witty dialogue to physical comedy (of which there is plenty) and the thoughtful, articulate performances of the actors make the play easy to understand.  And seeing Shakespeare live….as it was meant to be experienced is a celebration that should not be missed! And…there was a lot of celebration on this opening night, which found the audience on its feet, delighted and satisfied.

Please visit the Bard on the Beach website: bardonthebeach.org or call 604.739.0559,   to purchase tickets and view the wide variety of Bard Experiences and special events offered throughout the season.   

The Taming of the Shrew – June 5 to September 21

Exploring Shakespeare – July 6 at 11am, presented by Simon Fraser University’s Paul Budra

Forum: Kate – Victim or Victor? – August 26 at 7:30pm (Howard Family Stage)

Bard-B-Q & Fireworks –July 31 & August 3: play performance plus dinner and entertainment

Family Days – July 6, August 10 & August 24 at 2pm; activities plus Mainstage play performances

Talkback Tuesdays – Starting July 2 through to August 27, join members of the cast for lively Q & A sessions after each Tuesday evening performance

Wine Wednesdays – July 10, August 7, August 21 & September 4 at 6pm (pre-show events)

Accessible Performances – VocalEye – July 21 & August 10; Relaxed Performance – Sept 8

Ticket prices include all fees & taxes and start at $26 for all regular play performances. Youth Price tickets, sponsored by Global BC, are available for patrons ages 6 to 22, at 50% off regular adult prices. Prices for special events, group bookings and multi-play ticket packages can be found online at bardonthebeach.org or by calling the Bard Box Office at 604-739-0559. Early booking is recommended for best seat selection (all seats are reserved) and because many performances sell out in advance.

Bard on the Beach gratefully acknowledges the corporate sponsors who support and sustain the Festival and its programs. 2019 sponsors include Season Sponsor Goldcorp; Production Sponsors Avison Young, Lawson Lundell, BlueShore Financial and Lonetree Cider; Season Media Sponsors The Vancouver Sun and Global BC, as well as many other valued sponsors and partners. Bard also thanks the City of Vancouver Cultural Services Department, the Vancouver Park Board, the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts for their continuing support. 

About Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival

Bard on the Beach is one of Canada’s largest not-for-profit, professional Shakespeare festivals. Established in 1990, the annual summer festival’s mission is to perform, explore and celebrate the genius of William Shakespeare, surrounded by the natural beauty of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Bard also offers year-round education and training programs for youth, adults and theatre professionals in its administrative home at the BMO Theatre Centre in Olympic Village as well as in schools and community facilities throughout the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

Review by Anita Neufeld, images courtesy of Bard on the Beach.

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