Kim Creates Kate

Last week we got to know Paul Jennings, the actor playing Petruchio in our up-coming production of Taming of the Shrew. This week, we’re checking in with Kim Saunders, who will be playing Katherina and making her San Francisco Theater Pub debut.

So, who are you in a hundred words or less!

I am a native New Yorker and a city girl. My heart belongs to the theatre and has for as long as I can remember. I adore animals and share my home with a cat named Pyewacket and my wonderful husband Ron Talbot (Ed. Note: Ron is playing Gremio in this production). I love being busy and normally will be directing, choreographing, performing and coaching several projects at the same time

And how did you get involved with Theater Pub?

I was lucky enough to be cast at Custom Made Theatre Company in a production of Merchant of Venice. Having made friends with several people in the cast they took me to see last year’s production of Measure for Measure and I loved the entire concept of theatre in a bar! It reminded a bit of the NY Renaissance Faire and murder mysteries but with an amazing script.

What’s got you excited about working here?

So many things! The script, the people I am working with, the role I play and performing in an environment where anything can happen.

What’s got you worried?

The final monologue is so well known and can be interpreted in many ways. I hope that I am able to interpret it so the audience can understand Katherine’s point of view.

Have you ever been in this play (Shrew) before?

No.

What’s your history with this show?

I have always loved this show and the witty repartee between Kate and Petruchio. I have auditioned for it several times but have always been called back for Bianca. Having already done Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, this seems like a natural progression and I am excited to take it on!

Shrew is considered controversial- why do you think that is?

The true question is: who tames who? Shakespeare chose to make his heroines remarkable women; if the shrew is truly tamed at the end you have then forced a square peg into a round hole. I don’t think that is what Shakespeare intended. I believe in the end they both have found love and a true partnership. If anything these two are now a force to be reckoned with against the world!

Tell us about your character- what do you love about them?

I love the sparing between my Katherine and Petruchio as well as the ability to use all the physical elements that bring these two to life.

What do you hate about them?

I always want to find the humanity in my characters. How did they become who they are before the play has begun? When playing such a strong character it is sometimes hard for the audience to see the hurt and vulnerability that has brought them to where they are when you (the audience) first meets them.

What do you see as the biggest challenge?

Back to….the final monolgue. Everyone knows it and already has an opinion.

When you go about creating a role, what’s your process, in a nutshell? How do find a way into a character, particularly one written so long ago? 

For me listening and working off other actors, as well as the director’s vision are my favorite ways of finding my way into creating a role. Also many hints are in the text and also in the pauses thanks to the verse! I have several acting techniques in my toolbox if I need them as well.

What do you think this play has for a modern audience? 

Hopefully a great deal of laughter and maybe a new take on the show to start a new conversation!

A lot of famous lines in Shrew- what’s your favorite one?

“If I be waspish best beware my sting.”

A large selection of beers at our bar- what’s your favorite beer?

They keep adding new ones so I just want to keep trying new ones!

Don’t miss Kim, and the rest of this fantastic cast, in Taming of the Shrew, which plays four nights only- March 18, 19, 25 and 27, at 8 PM at the Cafe Royale. No reservations necessary as admission is free (with a suggested five dollar donation at the door), but get there early as we tend to fill up!

Cowan Palace: Quick and Dirty Tips to Surviving The Taming of the Shrew

This week, Ashley Cowan offers a few thoughts and facts regarding The Taming of the Shrew to get you ready for March 18’s Opening Night at Cafe Royale. 

Now, I’m sure most of you out there are Shakespeare fans. Or at least, that’s what you tell your friends. But just in case he makes you a little nervous, here are a few basic points to help ease you into to The Taming of the Shrew. 

First, what the heck is a shrew?

Well, according to the dictionary a “shrew” is a mouselike mammal with beady eyes and a long pointed snout. Its second definition simply explains a shrew as “a bad-tempered or aggressively assertive woman”.  And while I do think Stuart should have considered casting an array of small creatures, in this case, the tamed shrew describes Katherina.

Katherina? What an exotic name! Where does this play take place?

In the Italian city of Padua. 

Ah, and when was it written?

There are a few opinions on the year but most seem to believe it was in 1592.

16^th-century Italian comedy was a thing, right? Did that impact the play?

Well, reader, great observation.  There does seem to be some evidence within The Taming of the Shrew that reflects some of the style of Commedia dell’Arte. For example, the combination of some melodrama moments and slapstick humor executed by a colorful collection of characters. 

That sounds fun.

It is!

Has The Taming of the Shrew ever been made into a movie?

It has. An impressive fourteen different films have been created; including one with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It also helped to inspire the enchanting musical, Kiss Me Kate, and the ever popular teen classic flick, 10 Things I Hate About You. 

So how does this story start?

Once upon a time there were two sisters: Katherina and Bianca (spoiler alert: one of them is a shrew) who lived with their father, Baptista. Bianca was considered a hot piece and managed to attract herself three suitors but Dad refused to take any of them seriously until his other single daughter, who had a reputation for being harsh and unfriendly, found a beau of her own.  

Theater Pub has taken a slightly different route and has cast Baptista as a woman. And since mother often knows best, this should be a fun interpretation of controlling parenting presented with a feminine approach and two daughters working what their mama gave them. 

Does Katherina find someone?

Does she! After a few questionable OKCupid dates, Petruchio leaves Verona and comes into town in search of fame, fortune, and perhaps some female companionship.  And when he meets Kate, he’s not afraid of her or her reputation. 

So?

So? People love this stuff. It’s the whole “battle of the sexes” thing. We get to explore the relationship of two strong competitors who both embody elements of their sex and the fire to remain in control. 

Would you say it’s a romantic comedy?

I guess you could say that. But the play certainly opens the door to larger social issues regarding the institution of marriage and the exploration of the roles within them. 

Does the shrew ever get tamed? 

That’s something we can talk about over a beer.  Partially because it can be a fun discussion and partially because I’m thirsty. 

At the beginning the play, so much of what we, the audience, know about Kate is told to us by the other characters. They all seem to be on a mission to teach us about her incorrigible ways. But as the story progresses, we start to get an idea of what may be influencing her behavior and her response to her sister being favored by her father (or in this production, her mother). 

Now, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, I’m a bit of a romantic. I’ve been through many heated discussions about this play and listened to the backlash of several spirited thinkers who find the piece to be sexist and degrading. And to them, I say – maybe grab a drink and relax for a moment. I personally believe it’s a story about people learning from each other, exploring their fears, and ultimately transforming by approaching life in a new way. The play can be farcical but it’s also richer and more developed than that too. 

Yeah, but what’s up with Kate’s speech at the end? 

It depends how you direct it and interpret it but I believe it’s a representation of Kate’s dynamic spirit evolving into a more mature state. She seems to be accepting that she’s in a partnership and perhaps with that, she understands that power can exist together. When one succeeds, the other benefits.

Okay. Why should I see Theater Pub take this play on?

Well, what else are you doing? 

Come see it. There’s nothing like watching Shakespeare’s words come to life surrounded by bar patrons and theater lovers alike. This production is sure to entertain and challenge us, make us reconsider the strengths and weaknesses of relationships, and delight us with a cast of talented Bay Area actors. 

Plus, I’ll be there. And I’d love to see you. 

 

Paul Plays Petruchio

In anticipation of our upcoming production of Taming of the Shrew, we caught up with local actor Paul Jennings, who will be playing Petruchio. Last seen at the Pub playing Falstaff in The Boar’s Head, Paul took a moment to talk about what it takes to play one of literature’s most infamous good/bad husbands. 

So, who are you in a hundred words or less!

I am currently a proud Oakland resident, though I was born, and mostly raised in San Francisco. I am also a sometime producer, and frequent actor with a serious Shakespeare habit, having performed in 47 productions of 26 of the plays.

And how did you get involved with Theater Pub?

I first got involved with Theatre Pub when Jessica Richards asked me to audition for Boar’s Head in early 2011. I was cast (as Falstaff) and completely fell in love with the whole thing while doing the show.

What’s got you excited about working here? What’s got you worried?

I love the immediacy of the performance, and the interaction with the audience and the environment – there’s nowhere to hide, and it makes connecting that much easier.  I don’t actually have any worries, simply because, by the nature of the project, the things that could be a concern – all those unknown, uncontrollable variables – are part of the experience.

Have you been in this play before? What’s your history with this show?

This is only my second production of Shrew – I played Grumio ages ago…I was about to comment on the, “only second” because it seems to be such a popular show – but then I realized that it actually *isn’t* performed all that often, especially in the Bay Area. I think this is mainly because it’s a hard show to do without the resulting “misogynist/feminist “dialogue becoming the focal point.

Tell us about your character- what do you love about them, what do you hate about them- what do you see as the biggest challenge?

The thing I hate about Petruchio is less actually about the character, but that he’s typically played along the lines of the hyper-masculine, “I’ll stop drinking just long enough to abuse this woman” performance that Richard Burton gave in the film version, which leads to the (mistaken, I believe) impression that the play is misogynist but I find his overriding trait to be “a complete and total unwillingness to be other than he is” – which is a character trait he shares with Kate, and I think that *this* is a huge part of their mutual attraction.

When you go about creating a role, what’s your process, in a nutshell? How do find a way into a character, particularly one written so long ago?

Leaving my internal process for inhabiting a role aside, for me, the most important thing about finding a character, especially, in Shakespeare, is using the text to inform my choices. I find that pretty much everything the playwright needs us to know is spelled out for us right there, we just have to learn to look for the clues. I find that  choices in the use of words make a world of difference – Do they suddenly shift from the formal ‘you’ to the intimate ‘thou’? Are they echoing their scene partner? Are they shifting from Verse to prose?

What do you think this play has for a modern audience?

I think Shrew, tricky piece that it is, is still tremendously funny – it was, meant to be a comedy, after all – there’s a lot of really witty dialogue, as well as a lot of dialogue that *was* witty – to the cognoscenti of  425 years ago. In addition, I think there’s a lot of truth on a deeper level about human nature– Petruchio basically spells it out:

“…all the world,
That talk’d of her, have talk’d amiss of her:
If she be curst, it is for policy…”

She’s not shrewish by nature, but as a reaction to the unreasonable demands of her family and society, that insist she be who *they* think she should be.

A lot of famous lines in Shrew- what’s your favorite one?

As someone with an almost obsessive love for the period, and the language, the philosophy and classical references found within, I’m afraid to report that my favorite line is a smutty double-entendre that brings out my inner 6^th grader:

Lucentio: Spit in the hole, man, and tune again.

A large selection of beers at our bar- what’s your favorite beer?

Guiness!!!

Don’t miss Paul, and the rest of this fantastic cast, in Taming of the Shrew, which plays four nights only- March 18, 19, 25 and 27, at 8 PM at the Cafe Royale. No reservations necessary as admission is free (with a suggested five dollar donation at the door), but get there early as we tend to fill up!