Pictured: Heidi (Grumio) trying on a costume.
Today’s Date: 7/21/2019
Show Title: The Taming of the Shrew
Director: Kim Newton
Assistant Directors: Austin Harleson & Taylor Lamb
Production Intern: Margot Flanders (Dramaturg) & Jules Talbot (Stage Manager)
Rehearsal Room: Deming
What we did
We had an extremely productive rehearsal today (it is crazy how helpful an extra half an hour can be!) We worked until the end of the show and even began to try on costumes. Everything is beginning to fall into place and we are hoping to run the entire show tomorrow.
Quick and Quotable
From the play
“I read that I profess, the Art to Love.”
—Lucentio, Act IV
From the director
“So, they are listening to the Bee Gees in her [Bianca’s] dad’s basement.”
—Kim when Bianca and Lucentio are hanging out in Act IV.
From the cast
“Liam, can you play ‘How Deep is Your Love’ in this scene?”
—Kim
“I don’t even know what that is.”
—Liam
“It’s a song by the Bee Gees.”
—Kim
“Who?”
—Liam
“Don’t worry, I’ve already got it downloaded.”
—Ella
Production Insights
Today as we finished up blocking, we began to weave elements of our setting in the 70s. When Bianca and Lucentio are being cute, they are checking out a Bee Gees record and each other. Our costumes are extremely colorful and fit the 70s well. The Taming of the Shrew is a play that is typically produced in an Elizabethan style. This is often done to separate the story from the modern day. Many of the themes of the play are still relevant and by creating that barrier between then and now. It is easier to brush off the domestic abuse and the pressure of subservience as contemporary issues when the play is several hundred years ago. We moved it up in time to remind our audiences and ourselves that we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
Margot Flanders
Margot Flanders was born and raised about fifteen minutes from Staunton in the small town of Fishersville, VA. She is currently studying English and Theatre (and possibly studying Classics and/or Geology) at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. She has spent her first year of college as an Assistant Director, Assistant Production Manager, Dramaturg, and Assistant Stage Manager for Shakespeare in the Dark (W&M’s Shakespeare Club), The Sinfonicron Light Opera Company (W&M’s Gilbert and Sullivan based musical company) and the school’s theatre department. When she is not locked in a rehearsal room, she loves to hike and play with her dogs.