The Taming of the Shrew SF Video Playhouse 2001

The Taming of the shrew by Wm Shakespeare performed by The San Fransisco Video Company



Kultur Video [distributor, 2001] From a live production in 1982



run time 1 hr 55 mins.



IMDb   tt0203974/



IMDb Summary



The swaggering Petruchio agrees to marry the spitting hellcat, Katherine.



A brief cast list and creatives



directed for the stage by  John Allison

directed for the screen by Tom Tcimpidis



Katherine           Karen Austin

Petruchio           Franklyn Seales

Tranio              Bruce Davison

Bianca              Katherine Johnson

Lucentio            David Chemel

A Pedant            Jay Robinson

Baptista            Larry Drake

Hortensio           Charles Berendt



 complete cast and a large crew in the credit roll



From the description at Kulture video

   

  The story of the courtship of a beautiful but sharp-tempered woman and her persistent suitor.

 

My notes



   The cover art is not really representative of how well this production is done.  For these reasons I've introduced a new dvd torrent from the original DVD media.  It looks best in the Daum Potplayer.



 In looking at it again years later as I add to the new index it is at a scale that could be mounted by a high school production.  In fact the video version could have been for teaching purposes as the box notes indicate.



  Slightly related:  One of the finest books ("Drama High", by Michael Y. Sokolove) I ever read was on the life of Lou Volpe, a nationally known high school teacher of theatre.  His plays for a high school in Levittown PA are or were used as tryouts for Broadway productions including "Rent" and "Spring Awakening."  



 The direction and performers are first rate.  Karen Austin has a long list of credits at IMDb.  Franklyn Seales has an extensive biography also at IMDb. Bruce Davison is the young Tranio.



  Everyone can enjoy this performance including children since it is very broad and references the Comedia del Arte style.  Italian Comedia was not above fart jokes and slapstick humor that kids would enjoy.  The quality is television or VHS as shown by the production performance date.



  It may be stll available from Kultur Video.  Encourage your librararies to get the full dvd.



original upload was in 2012



notes written December 22th,  2019



added to the new index March 20th, 2020