The Taming of the Shrew 2019 Successfully Performed by the Central Academy of China

On the afternoon of October 16th, The Taming of the Shrew 2019 was performed in Proscenium Stage Theatre in Chang Ping campus of the Central Academy of Drama, which is also the first institution performing in the WTEA Theatre Festival. As a contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy, this theatre reflected a comic relation between two genders and received applause from the audience.

The Taming of the Shrew 2019 is directed by Cao Yan, the director of Peking Opera department, supported by the department of acting, stage design, dramatic literature, musical theatre, Peking Opera, dance theatre and other departments. With a series of brave and cautious innovations in the interpretation of the text, the structure of drama, as well as the stage setting, body language and music, they managed to show a special effect combining different elements in a certain space.

In this theatre there is Petruchio and Katharina from the Taming of the Shrew, as well as Liu Shi and Chen Sheng from The Lion Roars. The two female characters, Katharina and Liu Shi are acted by actors, which strengthened the masculinity in the female. So did the performance of the two actresses. At the end of the story, the actors and actresses returned to the character which correspond to their gender, realizing a situation in which the male and the female could coexist harmoniously. But the red lines over the stage controlled them completely like puppets, implying that the root of the conflict lies in an outside power rather than either of the male and the female. The director also mentioned in the post-show talk that this theatre is not based on the feminism or masculinity, but in a view of gender equality, trying to pay attention to the vulnerable group.

In stage design, there is a moving screen creating two spaces in the mind, in a simple and modern style. The music is also very creative, based on the modern electronic music with elements from traditional theatre inside. The well-designed properties such as mirrors, the meat and flexional green quinoa rod are combined with the performance of actors, creating a comedy effect.