THE UNIVERSITY OF SC DEPT. OF THEATRE & DANCE
PRESENTS
WRITTEN BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
DIRECTED BY MARYBETH GORMAN
APRIL 24-27 2014
LAB THEATRE
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
THE UNIVERSITY OF SC DEPT. OF THEATRE & DANCE
PRESENTS
CAST
KATHERINE........................................................JASMINE JAMES
PETRUCHIO.............KELSEA WOODS (THURSDAY/SUNDAY)
....................................GRACE STEWART (FRIDAY/SATURDAY)
GRUMIO.................................................................JAMIE BOLLER
BIANCA...................................................GRACE ANN ROBERTS
LUCENTIO.....................................................ELIZABETH HOUCK
TRANIO...........................................................ABIGAIL MCNEELY
HORTENSIO......................................................BREANN GRIFFIN
BAPTISTA............................................ANDREA WURZBURGER
CURTIS..........................................................MICHELLE BIZZELL
PHILIP.............................................................MEGAN BRANHAM
NATHANIEL......................................................SALLIE SARGENT
WIDOW................................................................BROOKE SMITH
VINCENTIO..........................................................NOELL STATON
TAILOR..................GRACE STEWART (THURSDAY/SUNDAY)
....................................KELSEA WOODS (FRIDAY/SATURDAY)
PRODUCTION TEAM
DIRECTOR................................................MARYBETH GORMAN
STAGE MANAGER...........................................MICHELLE OUHL
LIGHTING DESIGNER.....................................ASHLEY PITTMAN
COSTUME DESIGNER..........................................LYSSIE ROPP
LIGHTBOARD OPERATOR.............................WILLIAM QUANT
LAB THEATRE ASSISTANTS.....LIBBY DAVIS, AARON ISGETT
ADDITIONAL FLOOR PAINTING.....................MICHELLE OUHL
............................NATALIA KEROUAC, CHELSI CHADBOURNE
.........................ABIGAIL MCNEELY, JONATHAN MCCLINTON
ON-SET POSTER DESIGNS..................................ENTIRE CAST
PROD./PUBLICITY PHOTOGRAPHER.........EMILY MCCRAVY
PUBLICITY.................................................................KEVIN BUSH
There will be no intermission in tonight’s performance.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
MARYBETH GORMAN
Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare’s most problematic plays for
modern audiences. On the surface, Shakespeare’s advice on how to teach
a woman to submit to her all-knowing husband is hard to swallow to say the
least. However, considering that the story of Kate and Petruchio is presented
in Shakespeare’s uncut script as a play-within-a-play, a farce put on to play
a trick on the bumbling Christopher Sly, one might imagine that Shakespeare
considered Petruchio’s “words of wisdom” as silly as Kate’s outrageous behavior.
In our production, we sought to tell the story of a person behaving badly,
rather than a woman needing to be tamed. We wanted to show Kate’s
journey from a person whose bad behavior prevents her from having satisfying
connections with others, to someone who learns (with the help of a kindred
spirit) how to play into society’s expectations of her in order to get what she
wants. We hoped that by presenting our play with an all-female cast in a high
school setting--where “fitting in” is considered to some degree by everyone
within that particular social structure--we could bring light to this journey.
As modern feminists, both men and women in the audience might find it hard to
ignore some of Petruchio’s most egregious lines, such as, “This is how to tame
a wife with kindness” or “She is my ox, my ass…my anything.” However, aside
from provoking anger over these outrageous words, we hope this play inspires
conversation about gender roles, compromise, and the joy and transformative
powers of theatre. Thank you for spending your time and attention with us tonight.
Enjoy the show!
SPECIAL THANKS:
David Britt
Kevin Bush
Jason Craig
Libby Davis
Sandra Dietel
Jim Hunter
Andy Mills
Diane Mubarak with K&M Uniforms
Robert Richmond
Lisa Martin-Stuart
K. Dale White
Workshop Theater
Robyn Hunt
ALSO ON STAGE