Shrew(d) Moves at Shakespeare’s Globe

Deanna Smid (Brandon University)

14 July 2016
The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare’s Globe, until 6 August 2016
Director: Caroline Byrne
Dramaturg and Lyricist: Morna Regan

Caroline Byrne’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, at the Globe until 6 August, is an all-Irish homage to the Easter Uprising of 1916. It is also a hilarious romp of a play, breathtaking in its brilliant music, audience involvement, and acting. The play begins with outstanding musical productions from Mark Bousie, Loïc Bléjean, Úna Palliser, and Tag Sargent, whose performative prowess primes the audience for a rousing, fun production. Music—incidental and otherwise—continues to be a prime feature of the splendid play.

Music, and the 1916 uprisings, takes center stage in the song that Katherine sings at the beginning, middle, and end of the play (and which replaces the framing device of Sly and the lord). Written by Morna Regan, the song is an appeal for women to be included in Irish history. Its most memorable line is one taken from Yeats’s “Easter 1916,” for Katherine repeatedly asks to be to “numbered in the song” along with the men Yeats mentions. The song, when it opens the play, is striking indeed. Aoife Duffin, who plays the role of Katherine, sings…