THE TAMING OF THE SHREW (WHEREIN SHAKESPEARE MEETS THE MAD MEN)
Grab your spouse, round up your family and browbeat your friends (just kidding!) to see that classic battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew, at Rye Town Park in Westchester on August 2 at 5:45 p.m. This is the third consecutive year that the Port Chester Council for the Arts and LawnChair Theatre bring William Shakespeare to this beautiful setting, with Long Island Sound as a backdrop.
Set in the early 1960s era of “Mad Men,” this newly adapted production of Shakespeare’s comedy will dish out intrigue, plots, disguises and insults galore, all befitting a more unenlightened time. Will Baptista, the gentleman from Padua, manage to marry off both his daughters – the “shrew” Katharine as well as the “sweet” one, Bianca? Will the various suitors and their servants, acting on their behalf, win their chosen mates? Will Kate love and obey Petruchio?
In keeping with the theme, intermission will feature a 1960s-style trivia game show in which audience members will compete to win prizes.
The production, directed by Mat Young and produced by Peter Green and Carin Zakes, co-founders of Port Chester’s LawnChair Theatre, features a multigenerational cast and crew, including several recent graduates of Rye High School. Stage manager for the production is Alex Hufford, a rising senior at Rye High School. Music for the show was composed and recorded by Keith Levenson.
A complete list of other performance dates and times follows:
Saturday August 3 – Crawford Mansion, Rye Ridge, 5:45 pmSunday August 4 – Bedford Memorial Park, Bedford Village, 5:45 pm Thursday August 8 – Lyon Park, Port Chester, 5:45 pmFri August 9 – Lyon Park, Port Chester, 5:45 pmSaturday August 10 – Pine Ridge Park, Rye Ridge, 5:45 pm
The rain date for Rye Town Park is Sunday August 11, 5:45 pm
Admission to the programs is free but contributions are welcome. Audience members should bring their own lawn chairs or blankets. There is no reserved seating. Parking if $5 after 4 p.m. Permit parking is $4.
Light refreshments will be on sale.
LawnChair Theatre, supported by the Port Chester Council for the Arts and the Port Chester Dept of Recreation, is in its 8th year of summer productions in Westchester. For further information: www.lawnchairtheatre.org
Rye resident members of the cast and crew are: Noam Ben Yakir (Curtis); Kathleen Nicholas (Bianca); Channing Porter (Widow); Gwendolyn Wiegold (Tranio);Alec Hufford (stage manager); and, Chet Sternlicht (assistant stage manager)
