Seoul Shakespeare Company takes on 'hilarious but sexist' play

Jamie Horan as Petruchio and Muireann Ní Raghallaigh as Katherina for Seoul Shakespeare Company's production of "The Taming of the Shrew," premiering Saturday for a three-weekend run. Courtesy of Charlie Wright

The Taming of the Shrew is a controversial story.

Set in Italy, it tells the story of a fiery woman, Katherina, also known as Kate, infamous for her "willfulness." Her beautiful, sweet-tempered sister, Bianca, cannot marry until Kate does, by their father's decree. Bianca has several men chasing her, and so Petruchio is enlisted to wed Katherina. He does so and then undertakes a program to "tame" his new wife.

Explorations of patriarchy can make for thorny territory in the present day, especially when the material dates back to a time when women had fewer rights. However, the people behind Seoul Shakespeare Company (SSC), which will be staging "The Taming of the Shrew," are more than aware of this challenge.

Describing the play as "downright hilarious but also unabashedly sexist," SSC's press release says that they trust their audience to come to their own conclusions about the morality of the play.

However, this does not mean that SSC is seeking to update the feel of the story. Eschewing the modern dress favored by most current Shakespeare productions, this iteration will be performed entirely in period-accurate costumes. It will also feature music composed and performed by the cast members.

The group also promises that the audience will "always be aware that they're watching a play — and an old play, at that." They guarantee a heavily meta-theatrical experience.

Jamie Horan, who plays Petruchio, emphasized this further. Referencing the fact that the script uses a framing device, he told The Korea Times, "'The Taming of the Shrew' is already a story within a story — ours might go a little beyond that."

Asked how he dealt with the potential misogyny of his character, he says that it did give him doubts about auditioning. However, he said he firmly believes that the creative direction of the production will help mitigate the problematic aspects of the script.

To this end, instead of playing a manipulative, cruel husband, he describes his Petruchio as “someone with a flawed heart” who is “madly in love with Kate.”

He talks of finding a consistency between the different sides of Petruchio, “from desperate suitor to chaotic but caring husband,” and how this required him to “tread a very thin line.”

This, he expounds, was the most fun part of the production. Although he went into his audition with a notion of how to play the character, he is still making discoveries in rehearsals and continuing to alter his characterization.

Horan said unequivocally that Kate and Petruchio are a team not only in the story, but also off-stage, and praised his co-star, Muireann Ni Raghallaigh, who plays Katherina. Horan says she contributed many ideas and was constantly supportive.

For her part, Ni Raghallaigh relished the challenge of playing Kate and acknowledged that audiences would probably have preconceived notions about "The Taming of the Shrew." “It has been interesting trying to find the line, but in a way it's more fun to constantly be dancing on it,” she said.

She muses on the meta-theatrical nature of the script. “It's a play within a play, where you have a character learn his lesson about treating people properly through watching 'Taming' ... maybe we shouldn't take all this misogyny at face value.”

Describeing her Katherina as “unaffected,” treating the actions of the other characters as “like dealing with children,” Ni Raghallaigh says she came into the audition with an idea of how to play the character, but her characterization has evolved throughout the process, and she knows it will continue to do so until the end. “Such is theater, in my experience.”

As with Horan, Ni Raghallaigh has nothing but glowing reviews for her fellow participants in the show. “When you find people that move through the world at the same frequency as you, it makes everything so enjoyable,” she said.

Both the press release and the actors stressed the romantic nature of the play, saying that this is one of the ways that they hope to mitigate some of the text's more concerning elements. SSC talks of emphasizing "the sincerity of the love stories," saying that "love truly does conquer all." Ni Raghallaigh describes "The Taming of the Shrew" as being “about acceptance, opening up to change, learning from others, learning how to be vulnerable.”

Horan expands even further, positing that the reason the story has endured into the modern day is because of its commentary on the nature of love. He describes how the play depicts people making mistakes and hurting each other because they are in love or because they are hurt themselves, “but those wheels pulling us along don't have to turn forever.” In the end, no one is beyond redemption.

A poster for Seoul Shakespeare Company's production of "The Taming of the Shrew" / Courtesy of Seoul Shakespeare Company

SSC's production of "The Taming of the Shrew" will be performed in English with Korean subtitles. It will run at Dari Theatre in western Seoul near Hongik University. There will be performances on April 18, 19, 25 and 26, and May 2 and 3. On Saturdays, shows will run at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. On Sundays, the curtain will lift at 3 p.m.

Tickets are 25,000 won, but discounted to 20,000 won for the first performance on April 18. Tickets can be purchased directly through Naver or reserved online and paid for at the door on the day of the performance. Visit seoulshakespearecompany.org for more information.

Rory Kelly is a writer, actor, improviser and stand-up comedian based in Seoul. He's also often spotted not quite winning pub quizzes in the Itaewon area.