★★★★☆
Enter the Bellas Cabaret Club if you dare, where you’ll find an extravagant and bold retelling of the Shakespeare classic, The Taming of the “Shrew” directed by Amy Gavin & Hannah Ellis Ryan – note the quotation marks. From the offset, the title criticises the use of “Shrew” to describe women derogatorily. Though we don’t need to be told how Girl Gang Manchester, HER Productions and Unseemly Women continually create potent theatre that uplifts the female, non binary and LGBTQ+ experience.
There’s an air of immersion and excitement in Manchester’s HOME; the cast greet us throughout the building as we make our way up to Theatre 2, dressed in their striking cabaret attire, designed by Zoey Barnes. Opening with an harmonious original song, we’re transported into the Bella’s cabaret club, the cast flaunting their powerful vocal chops, and strong sense of ensemble.
As the tale goes, the play begins with a hoax, tricking Sly (Ciara Tansey), a drunken man into believing that he in fact was a nobleman with a doting wife, putting on a play to entertain him. The cabaret clad cast reenact the story of Katerina (Shady Murphy) and Bianca (Hope Yolanda), one “shrewish” and one subservient, one undesirable and the other sought after. We follow Katerina’s journey as she’s married to an abusive and ostentatious man, Pertruchio (Emily Spowage), and ultimately is tamed, or abused, into becoming submissive to her husband.
Emily Spowage really stood out in their performance as Pertruchio, giving a distinct grandiose comedic performance vocally reminiscent of Matt Berry – very random, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this comparison. Spowage delivers Shakespearean verbiage with such wit and precision, their mannerisms were hypnotising. It was astonishing how Spowage portrayed such piercing abuse and rage towards Katerina, then moments later achieved such hilariously bumbling physical comedy that won the whole audience back to their side.
Gavin and Ryan’s The Taming of the “Shrew” cuts deep like a sharp knife. Shady Murphy delivers the infamous Act V, Scene ii Soliloquy, “Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,” with such poignancy, as the ensemble circle her and watch on in pain, huddling together in tears. An agonising moment of sisterhood and understanding.
Gavin and Ryan illuminate the harshness and pain found within the original text, all the while accentuating the farcical nature through cabaret elements and campy comedic performances. They certainly breathe new life into the questionable tale, criticising the expectation of female obedience to their fathers and husbands, within Shakespearean times, though this sentiment still rings true. Gavin and Ryan’s original take on the text emphasises the play’s comedic potential, but also materialises the pain that Katerina and women throughout history suffered at the hands of patriarchal men suppressing their agency.
Taming of the “Shrew” runs at HOME (Theatre 2) until May 31.
Photo: Lowri Burkinshaw Photography
JADAR 