Directing Act 5 Scene 2 Lines 63-179 of The Taming of the Shrew
Directing Act 5 Scene 2 Lines 63-179 of "The Taming of the Shrew"
I will be directing part of Act five scene two. This is the part where most of the main characters are all together and Petruchio shows all the other men that he has tamed Kate. All the men have a bet on whose wife is the most obedient.
I have chosen to set my piece in the present time because I want the modern day audience to sympathise with both Katherina and Petruchio. I am going to set this in a stately home because the men will be playing cards and the women will be talking in a nearby room. The servants will be also playing cards because Biondello and Gremio are also good friends of their masters. The house will belong to Lucentio. I have chose to use a stately home because it is the closest thing to the type of housing and the class the people in the original play were set in. I thought that although the stately home is the closest thing to the original, the modern day audience would still be able to relate to the characters and settings a lot easier.
The men will be dressed in casual suits with a loosened tie, to create the effect of the upper class relaxing with a few friends. Kate will be wearing a long flowing dress to show that she is like an ordinary upper class lady instead of the more radical clothing she would have worn before the taming process. Biannca and the widow will also be wearing the same style of dress. The servants (Biondello and Gremio) would be wearing the traditional butler uniform.
I want them to realise that Petruchio has tamed Kate, but I want them to question whether or not Kate has lost her robust personality in the process. I want them to think that although Kate has been disciplined and is obeying Petruchio's every word, that she still is her own person, but she now puts her view across in very different ways.
I am going to direct my play in a way that will bring out the fact that Kate is still her own person, but a lot more sociable.
Baptista and all the other men think that Petruchio could not have tamed Kate because she was uncontrollable. So I would get Baptista to say this line
" Now in good.... shrew of all"
In a patronising way. I would get him to say it in this way because Baptista doesn't think that Petruchio has succeeded.
"Well, I say no.... we will propose"
Petruchio would say this in a confident manner, which the other gentlemen will act upon because they think that Kate has no chance of winning therefore they all place a wager for their own wife.
"Twenty crowns? I'll venture.... Upon my wife"
Again Petruchio would say this in a conclusive way to make lure the audience and his friends into thinking he must be foolish to bet such a large amount of money upon a bet he is in no doubt going to lose.
"That will I. Go Biondello, bid your mistress come to me"
Lucentio would say this in a boastful manner because he thinks his sweet fair Biannca will come to him at once. The audience are in total agreement with Lucentio, they also think Biannca will come. ...
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"Twenty crowns? I'll venture.... Upon my wife"
Again Petruchio would say this in a conclusive way to make lure the audience and his friends into thinking he must be foolish to bet such a large amount of money upon a bet he is in no doubt going to lose.
"That will I. Go Biondello, bid your mistress come to me"
Lucentio would say this in a boastful manner because he thinks his sweet fair Biannca will come to him at once. The audience are in total agreement with Lucentio, they also think Biannca will come. When Biondello exits he will go through a large oak door and you would hear him running down the hall.
"Son, I'll be your half Biannca comes"
The actor would need to say this in a way that convinces the audience he is willing to give his money away because he is that assured that Lucentio will win the bet.
"I'll have no halves; I'll bear it all myself."
Lucentio would say this in an arrogant way because he is that confident that he will win he wants all the rewards for himself.
"Sir, my mistress.... She cannot come."
Biondello would be out of breath after he had been running; he would then say this sentence in a very surprised way. Before he said this Lucentio would have a very smug grin on his face, but afterwards his face would drop.
"How? "She's busy.... Is that an answer?
Petruchio would say this in a condescending way because he thinks that a wife should obey her husband at all times and come to him even when she is busy.
"Ay, and a kind one too.... You not a worse"
Gremio would say this in a respectful way to Lucentio, but at the same time being contemptuous towards Petruchio.
"Sirrah Biondello.... Come to me forthwith"
Hortensio would say this in more of an imposing way than Lucentio did to summon his wife. This would make the audience believe that Hotensio's wife would definitely obey him.
Biondello exits the room the same way as before, through the oak doors, and you hear him running down the hall.
"I am afraid, sir.... not be entreated."
Hortensio says this very derisively towards Petruchio because both Hortensio and the audience still think that Petruchio is idiotically wasting his money.
Biondello yet again comes back out of breath and with bad news.
"She says you have.... You come to her."
He tells Hortensio this in a very disdainful way because Hortensio was becoming very overconfident about the bet especially after Lucentio had failed with Biannca.
"Worse and worse! "She will not come".... Come to me"
Petruchio is mocking Hortensio because his wife gave an even worse answer than what Biannca gave to Lucentio. He then tells Gremio to order Kate to come to him; he says this in a very superior way.
"I know her answer"
Hortensio says this in a very pompous tone of voice. I would make Hortensio say it in this way because I want the audience still to think that Biannca is not going to come and that Petruchio will be disgraced.
Just before the doors open the gentlemen are laughing at the expense of Petruchio because they think he has done all this boasting about Kate being tamed and she wont obey him. As soon as the doors open and the audience see Kate I think that they would be very surprised and shocked, so I would make all the actors except Petruchio to faint to add a comical side to this instant.
"What is your will, sir, that you send for me?
Katherina would say this in a very delicate voice and whilst saying this she would curtsy. This would also be a shock to the audience because they are used to Kate being very forceful in her dialect and in her physical presence.
"Go fetch them hither.... Bring them hither straight."
Petruchio would say this in a very condescending manner to Kate. As soon as Petruchio has finished Kate abruptly rushes off to fetch the other women.
"Here's a wonder, if you talk of a wonder."
Lucentio says this in a very astounded way. He says this because he cannot believe what he is seeing, I would expect the audience to feel the same because throughout the play Kate has never done anything she did not wish to do.
"Marry, peace it bodes.... sweet and happy."
Petruchio is saying that Life with Kate is going to be a happy one; the audience have started to see that Petruchio loves Kate and did all those cruel things so that she could live in peace with him.
"Nay, I will win my wager.... virtue and obedience."
Petruchio wants to prove what a good job of taming her he has done and how dutiful she is know.
Kate then enters dragging Biannca and the widow by their hair through the large oak doors. When the door shuts she lets them go and walks towards Petruchio.
"I would your duty.... Since supper time."
Lucentio is very disappointed with Biannca and the actor would bring this out by saying these lines in a very saddened way.
"The more fool you for laying on my duty."
Biannca would say this in a very patronising tone of voice. The audience would be quite astonished by Biannca's reply to Lucentio because she is usually very quiet and obedient.
"Katherine, I charge thee.... Lords and husbands."
Petruchio wants Kate to tell the people how a lady should act towards her husband/lord. The crowd will think that although Kate has changed she will not lower herself to that level. But she does in a way that still leaves her with a vast amount of pride.
Kate starts her speech by insulting the widow and saying that she should respect her master
"Fie, fie unknit that threatening unkind.... Thy governor."
She would say this in a very sarcastic, but malicious way. I would get the actress to say it in that way because although Kate does respect Petruchio she also has her own will and she also wants to intimidate the widow. As Kate would be saying this I feel that she should walk towards the widow in an ominous manor. As Kate walks up to her, the widow would cower away into a corner. This will show the crowd that Kate is still domineering and robust.
"It blots thy beauty.... meet or amiable"
Kate is saying that being angry all of the time hides the fact that underneath that fiery surface is a beautiful majestic lady. The audience will at this stage think that what Kate is saying is ironic because she was once fiery, but now the audience will start to realise that women who act this way disgust her.
"Thy husband is thy.... Sea and land"
This is where Kate is saying how she expects other women to feel about their husband's because this is the way that she feels about Petruchio. Whilst she is saying this she will go up to Petruchio and kneel in front of him to show the audience how much respect she has for her husband.
"Too little payment for so great a debt.... owes the prince."
She is saying that women have a good life and hardly have to repay their husband for all the tasks he has to do for her. As she says this she will scan across the room glaring at the other wives as if to say that they do not repay their husbands enough and should be thankful that he hasn't left them.
"I am ashamed that women are so simple.... Love & obey."
She says that the wives are always protesting against their master's authority, and she feels that they should not do this, but instead they should be thankful and offer peace to their husband's. She would be saying this to the men because she wants them to realise how badly their wives are treating them. The audience would think Kate is becoming more and more like the perfect wife. She would be saying these lines in a very patriotic way towards her Petruchio.
"Why are our bodies soft.... External parts"
She is saying that the females have soft and gentle bodies, and that the two wives should have hearts that are also soft and gentle. When she has said this Bianca stands up and tries to strike her sister, but Kate deters her and pushes her back into her seat. I feel that the audience will realise that although Kate is saying all of this she still can be violent.
"Come, come, you forward.... My reasons happily more"
Kate is saying that she used to be like they are, but she would say this in a patronising way because I want Kate to show people that she disapproves of her old behaviour and thinks that every woman should act like she now does.
"To bandy word for word.... Our weakness past compare"
Kate at the start of this section is realising that the way in which she used to behave was inexcusable and at the same time she is mocking Bianca and the widow for behaving like this now. At the end of this section she saying that although the women are trying to act like they are strong willed, they really are weak and insecure. I feel that at the start of this section I would want Kate to act this out like she is remembering how badly she used to treat everyone around her and this builds her up to a point were she is disgusted and she would show this by dragging the two wives up onto their feet and then saying the last part of this section in a calm yet censorious manor whilst giving the two wives scornful glances.
"The vail your stomachs.... Your husband's foot"
Kate is saying that even if you think it will degrade you, you should still do whatever your master desires. Whilst Kate is saying this she will act out her words by lying down on the floor near Petruchio and placing out her hands ready for her husband to walk on. By now the audience will have realised that Kate has been tamed and that she is willing to do anything Petruchio desires.
"In token of which duty.... May it do him ease"
Kate says this because she is basically saying that if he wishes to walk all over her, he may do so. Everyone in the room will be speechless, I will get the actors to either gasp or just have a blank expression on their faces. Also the cast and the audience will all now realise that the shrew has been tamed.
Matthew Lloyd Page 1