Originally published October 10, 2014
By Rodrigo Castañeda
UTEP News Service
If You Go:
What: The Taming of the Shrew
When: Shows at 7:30 p.m. take place Friday, Oct. 17; Saturday, Oct. 18; Thursday, Oct. 23; Friday, Oct. 24; and Saturday, Oct. 25 in the Wise Family Theatre. Matinees are Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19 and 26.
Ticket specials: UTEP Alumni night is Saturday, Oct. 18; UTEP faculty and staff night is Thursday, Oct. 23; Military night is Friday, Oct. 24; El Paso City and County employee night is Saturday, Oct. 25; and GECU employee night is during the matinee Sunday, Oct. 26. All ticket specials are buy-one-get-one free and require a valid ID. Patrons may take their ticket stub from the show to Bella Napoli, located at 6331 N. Mesa, and receive a free dessert with meal purchase from Friday, Oct. 17 through Thursday, Oct. 30.
Building upon a critically acclaimed story, The University of Texas at El Paso and the Department of Theatre and Dance are proud to bring to the stage a reimagined The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare’s comedic battle of the sexes.
UTEP’s take on this Shakespearean comedy will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 in the Wise Family Theatre, located on the second floor of the Fox Fine Arts Center, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 26.
Tickets are $13 for general admission; $11 for UTEP faculty and staff, seniors, military, non-UTEP students, groups (10+) and alumni with card; and $9 for UTEP students and children (4-12 years old).
Breathing new life into stories is no easy job, and adapting an early 17th-century play containing outdated perspectives on society to modern standards proved to be a challenge. Nonetheless, UTEP Associate Professor Chuck Gorden remained persistent.
Prior to academia, Gorden worked for more than 20 years as a professional actor, director and playwright. He is full of pride and satisfaction with the unique direction his version of the play has taken.
The play traditionally tells the story of the lovely Bianca Minola, whose looks and wealth infatuate the minds and hearts of countless men. Due to social conventions, Bianca cannot accept any proposals from her many suitors until her older, shrewish sister, Kate, weds.
With a hot-tempered attitude and razor-sharp tongue, Kate Minola is bound to remain single. That is until Petruchio, the smug and money-grubbing bachelor, comes in to “tame” Kate and hilarity ensues.
“Playing with this cast and crew has been its own unique journey, and I’m hoping to bring as much truthfulness and life to Kate as my body will let me,” said UTEP student Ellen Smith, a senior philosophy major. “I will say Kate is a bold character and I, Ellen Smith, wear size 11 shoes.”
Gorden knew he wanted to take the story out of its traditional Renaissance setting and use a familiar environment, one that an American audience could relate to. Gorden eventually decided to have the story take place in New York’s Little Italy in 1964.
“Our Petruchio is something of a cross between Marlon Brando’s character in The Wild One and Harvey Lembeck’s Eric Von Zipper character from the early ’60s Beach Party movies,” Gorden said.
With this unusual setting, Gorden’s interpretation takes inspiration from iconic elements of the 1960s such as greasers, motorcycles, pompadours, Elvis Presley and Louis Prima. All in all, Gorden’s version stays mostly faithful to the original’s core.
Gorden wanted a setting during the time when sexism was at its height and feminism was in its infancy; 1964 seemed like the ideal setting. His approach plans to tackle the original play’s gender issues.
“This play does deviate from the fairy-tale approach most productions take toward the inherent misogyny and sexism in the play,” Gorden explained. “Unfortunately, revealing it here would deprive the audience of what, I think, is a fun surprise in our production. I can only encourage audience members to come see the play and see how we handle those issues.”
Boasting an inspired twist on an old classic and an ensemble of talent, this adaptation of Shakespeare’s work is unlike any other.
For tickets and more information, call 915-747-5118.