THEATRE REVIEW: Taming of the Shrew ★★★

Taming of The Shrew
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
July 4th 2016

Going to The Globe Theatre should be a usual occurrence for me considering how accessible the location and how feasible the prices are - it costs only a mere £5 for a standing view - but in reality I have only seen one other play before today's performance of Taming of The Shrew, and that was back in 2012 with Midsummer Night's Dream, but from now on I think I shall be visting more just due to the sheer excitement I got from this experience.

Taming of The Shrew is a Shakespearean play that I had very little knowledge on, and so I went into this performance with fresh eyes, just like my two non theatre goer friends, for the ride that we all thoroughly enjoyed due to the hilarity that the production provided, especially from Lucentio (Aaron Heffernan) & Tranio (Imogen Doel), the two comic relief characters in the play, and the sublime acting from all the company involved, especially from Aoife Duffin, who portrayed an Irish 1916 Katherine.

I really love when Shakespeare is adapted to include music, and this performance was no exception as the musicians played beautifully and really gripped and played a vital role to the production as a whole. I especially loved how the production began and finished with the same song, really linking the production together as a whole, and as director Danielle Pearson explains, is used also to ‘Remember the legacy of resistance’ & ‘to inspire us to keep striving.’

I particularly loved the climax of the first act which had so much imagery and symbolism, as Katherine (Aoife Duffin) was lowered through the trap door to then be risen again with mixture all over her body.

Overall, Taming of The Shrew was a thoroughly enjoyable 2 ½ hour production in a beautiful theatre, which has made me fall in love with Shakespeare all over again, truly proving that he was and still is one of the greatest playwrights this world has ever known!