MBC students add fun twist to tame the 'Shrew'

STAUNTON - Mary Baldwin's Shakespeare and Performance theater company brings "Taming of the Show" Nov. 9-10 at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton. Admission is free and everyone is welcome to attend and participate in the production.

In this choose-your-own-adventure adaptation of "The Taming of the Shrew," it's the play itself that's in for some taming.

"We are doing 'Taming of the Shrew,' but the twist is that it's been converted into a choose-your-own-adventure style play, in which the audience will vote on what happens with the possibility of something like 16 separate combinations," says Catie Osborn who plays Katherine. "This is a really unique experience for the Staunton theater community."

Help Christopher Sly decide which path the show will take. How will Katherine resist Petruchio? Which servant will miraculously gain a Scottish accent? Each decision means consequences for the fearless actors, so they encourage you to follow your heart – or your shrewish side.

Adapted by second-year student Mark Pajor, "Taming of the Show" includes portions of several early modern 'taming' plays, resulting in an evening of conflicting choices and the potential for multiple endings. Will forgiveness or rejection reign? Part real-time video game, part Shakespeare and total madness, the audience will decide the action, creating a show never to be seen again.

"Nothing like it has been done in the area before, so we are giving the community a totally new theatrical experience," says Osborn. "I think people have a very specific picture in their head when they hear 'Taming of the Shrew,' so a show that allows for the story to end differently than what audiences are used to is big deal. It's been crazy to rehearse, having to essentially have eight different shows memorized, but the results are worth it."

The cast includes Sophia Beratta, Clare Boyd, Tyler Dale, Allison Jones, Jessi Scott, Glenn Thompson, Justine Mackey, Clarence Finn, Catie Osborn, Laura Wise, Bree Burns and George Kendall.

"It's a huge honor to be able to play one of Shakespeare's best female characters on stage at the Blackfriars, so for me personally, this is a big deal as well," says Osborn. "I'm really excited to see what the audience chooses every night – I totally have a favorite sequence of events, but it's possible that the audience will never vote for those choices."

IF YOU GO!

What "Taming of the Show"

When 8 p.m. Nov. 9-10

Where Blackfriars Playhouse, American Shakespeare Center, 20 S. New St., Staunton

Cost Free

More info (540) 682-4236 or www.americanshakespearecenter.com