Shrew Webcast Archived

In the Wednesday Webcast for February 27, director Peter Hinton and Stratford Shakespeare Festival General Director Antoni Cimolino took viewers on a backstage tour of The Taming of the Shrew (2008) and answered questions as they were posed live by the online audience.

You can now watch (or re-watch) that webcast in the video archives.

Don’t have a half-hour at the moment? No worries. Here are a few highlights:

-- The Taming of the Shrew (2008) has been rehearsing for four weeks now, and is just moving into the Festival Theatre (where previews begin May 19);

-- Director Peter Hinton believes that both Katherina (Irene Poole) and Petruchio (Evan Buliung) fall in love with each other. Cimolino thinks the result is a "gentle, thoughtful approach"” to the controversial play;

-- In the scene during which Petruchio and Lucentio (Jeff Lillico) exchange identities, they will also be exchanging their clothes on stage. And, since the actors are different sizes, it will be both comic "and believable";

-- Hinton is planning on using the induction. Often ignored for drawing attention to the play within a play, Hinton enjoys the induction not only because it sets the tone of the piece, but because it is the single portion of the canon that takes place in Shakespeare’s London;

-- Queen Elizabeth I (Barbara Fulton), an important element of that present, will be making an appearance in the induction as the lord who devises to put on the play. Her costume is based on the Ermine Portrait, pictured below.
Peter Hinton, who is spearheading the production of Shakespeare’s Universe (Her Infinite Variety) (2008), also managed to give us a few concrete details about what it will involve – scenes and sonnets from Shakespeare, period dances and songs, poetry written by Queen Elizabeth I, and a very special swordfight for the women.

If you missed the casting announcement for Shakespeare’s Universe (Her Infinite Variety) (2008), details are available here.

Watch the entire webcast (or selected parts via the "Video Playlist" tab) for more talk on working at the Studio Theatre versus the Festival Theatre, how Lucy Peacock ended up in the role of Grumio, and some great visuals in the costume and props shops.

NEXT WEDNESDAY: Go behind the scenes of Romeo and Juliet (2008) with Antoni Cimolino and director Des McAnuff.