Kelly Lee Hussey and Daryl Willis in The Taming of the Shrew. (Jen Scott Photography)
By Steven J. Smith
JUPITER — Kermit Christman, founder and executive producer of the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival, said his upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew will be set within the pomp, wealth, apparel and amusing societal affectations of the Kentucky Derby.
“Our goal is always to take Shakespeare and visit him with great imagination,” Christman said. “And knowing our director Trent Stephens as a fine artist, old friend and Kentucky native, I said, ‘What would happen if we set the play at the Kentucky Derby?’ He found a way to do it.”
Stephens said once he read the play with a Derby setting in mind, he discovered the idea started “jumping off the page” at him.
“There’s a lot of references to ‘breaking’ or ‘taming,’ obviously, which is something that is signature of racing horses in particular, because they’re very unruly,” he said. “Then of course there are many references to horses. Shakespeare was very likely a valet — one who saddles horses and attends to a jockey’s needs — before he worked in the theatre, so he would have known a thing or two about horses. And horses are referred to in this play a lot. Also, in his other comedies there is no other instance of such high stakes wagering going on. There’s a lot of betting and a lot of money changing hands.”
Stephens added that in The Taming of the Shrew the sisters Kate and Bianca — whose father, Baptista, tries to marry them off — are treated very much as if they are livestock on the auction block.
“They’re being moved around like horses,” he said. “Taking the play out of its Italian context, it really transposes nicely to a traditional Southern setting — especially that of the Kentucky Derby.”
Stephens quickly added how surprised he was that so many people read misogyny into this play.
“You see some of that at face value,” he said. “But if you do that, you’re missing quite a bit. I think the play has a progressive merit and encourages the audience to examine how women are and should be treated. I think it espouses a lot of feminist values and is relevant today. In fact by the end, Kate has tamed Petruchio every bit as much as he has tamed her.”
The cast of The Taming of the Shrew. (Jen Scott Photography)
Darryl Willis plays Petruchio, whose task is to tame the shrewish Kate and make her his wife. He said the Kentucky Derby setting adds a new dimension to the play.
“It’s really fun, as we are even referencing Louisville and Lexington,” he said. “And it’s surprising how well that idea fits into the play. There are a lot of horse-racing references in the script. Doing the play within the Kentucky Derby aspect proves you can take Shakespeare and plug in different settings, yet it all still fits. It’s a real testament to his genius, how timeless his plays are and how you can set them almost anywhere. His plays still resonate with us 400 years after his death.”
Christman added what he liked so much about this production’s Derby setting is the color and spectacle of its pageantry.
“The beautiful clothes and hats, the beautiful women and men — what a great opportunity for a costume designer,” he said, laughing. “We believe this production of ours will be hugely successful.”
That would be a safe bet. Christman, 66, has lived in Jupiter ever since founding the Festival’s Shakespeare by the Sea series at Carlin Park’s Seabreeze Ampitheatre stage in 1990.
“I had come into Jupiter to visit friends back in 1989 and I was taking a walk down by the beach at Carlin Park,” he said. “As I was walking through that virtually empty lot across the street from the beach, I noticed there was a strange landscape. There was a hill that sloped down to the lake, which seemed to me like a natural ampitheater. I literally had a vision that this might become a place where you could do outdoor theater.”
Christman gathered up all of his friends and forces available to him and struck a deal with the Palm Beach County Commission and the Parks and Recreation Department to do just that. In 1990 the PBSF mounted its first production, of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and Christman said 10,000 audience members flooded the park that weekend to see free Shakespeare. Since then, he said the PBSF has produced about 100 productions and around 250,000 audience members have come out to see them.
A crowd at the Seabreeze Amphitheatre is gathered for the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival’s The Tempest in July 2011.
“We are a populist theater,” he said. “We’re devoted to art and education, devoted to making Shakespeare’s plays accessible and, as you know, it is free. I believe the arts, as much as they can be, should be free to the people. When I go to New York or London and see a ticket price of $200 for a play, I turn in the other direction. The secret to our success is we’re offering you a lovely evening at the park for free. A pretty good idea, don’t you think?”
Christman added he hopes audiences will take the same sensibility from The Taming of the Shrew that they take from the Kentucky Derby.
“It’s completely thrilling,” he said. “And that’s what I expect the audiences to get from our production; that when they walk to the parking lot afterward they say it was a thrilling experience — the same way I felt when I saw Nyquist win the Kentucky Derby.”
The Taming of the Shrew will run July 7-10 and 14-17 at the Seabreeze Ampitheatre in Carlin Park, located at 750 S. A1A in Jupiter. The gates open at 6:30 p.m. and performances begin at 8 p.m. Audience members are invited to bring a beach chair, blanket and picnic basket, or enjoy nearby food truck concessions. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is suggested. For more information, call the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department Events Hotline at 561-966-7099 or visit www.pbshakespeare.org.