Motivation mostly lacking in UNLV’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’

The first act of Nevada Conservatory Theatre's "The Taming of the Shrew" hints of a model performance.

As Petruchio, a scheming bounty hunter determined to marry the fiery Katherina (Melissa Ritz) for her considerable dowry, Alan Dronek is brazen, bawdy, sensual and confident. He physically towers over other actors and dominates the stage. When Dronek's character makes up his mind to win Kate, the actor makes clear that defeat isn't a part of Petruchio's psychological makeup. Dronek also manages director Todd Espeland's broad concept without looking as if he's only concerned with being funny.

By the second act, though, Dronek falls victim to Espeland's heavy hand and mugs meaninglessly -- a fault most of the cast is guilty of from the first scene.

William Shakespeare's comedy has often been thought a treatise on how to train an independent woman to be a subservient wife. Today, many productions put a different spin on the material.

Whatever the spin, we at least have to know what it is, and it has to answer certain questions: Since Petruchio begins his desire for Kate for strictly monetary reasons, does he eventually fall in love with her? If so, why? And at what point? Kate begins by loathing her suitor and then suddenly adores him. What brings about the change? What does Kate mean in the end when she says, regarding subservience to husbands, "I am ashamed that women are so simple/To offer war when they should kneel for peace"? Is she serious? Is she being sarcastic? Could be anything.

But this director doesn't communicate what his leading characters really want and what it is they finally get. Espeland tacks on Sonnet 116 to, I suppose, make the finale more clearly romantic. But for me, it further clouded the issue.

Dana Hall's sets and Kurt Jung's lights offer a visual feast. Alexandra Lambert's costumes, traditional with a tad of modern, are alternately amusing and elegant and always colorful.

Despite the thematic confusion, the show could easily entertain if the performers would motivate their shtick. An actor who jumps on a table to look wild and crazy needs to appear wild and crazy in heart, as well as legs.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat @aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.