There’s lots to enjoy about the fast-paced comedy Taming Who? The story immediately grabs your attention. The contemporary off-campus student setting gives it a recognisable social atmosphere. The cast is confident and effective in delivering both physical and character-led humour. There is rarely a pause in the laughter.
However, the plot is improbable and the characters lack believability. Most importantly, in the rush to create a slapstick laddish romp, the show recklessly delivers some unhelpful gender stereotypes.
The play takes its plot loosely from Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, which also provides it with occasional poetic lines that integrate well with the modern prose style of its characters.
A phone call from Petruchio’s mother (Morenike Onajobi) after his father’s death poses him with a dilemma. She asks that he and his brother return home. Impulsively, he says that’s not possible because he’s married. Unfortunately not even in a relationship, he sets out to find a wife before her arrival three days later.
His quest comes at the same time as a group of lads feel Katherine (Sara Mokonen) is an obstacle to them getting off with her sister Bianca (Ophelia J Wisdom). Thus Petruchio’s project becomes a bit of a money earner as a number of them offer money to get her out of the way.
Katherine seems more interested in reading a book than partying, and her first meeting with Petruchio (Keon Martial-Phillip) doesn’t go too well when without consent he strokes her bottom. He gets a slap for that.
But for some reason, she agrees to go out with him, and, despite him needing her for a quick pretend marriage, he deliberately denies her food, sleep or even a shower until she is willing to agree with whatever he wants. Thus he describes her as “my horse, my ox”.
Proud of his possession, he joins the lads who are playing a game of cards and bets money on her being more obedient than their girlfriends. Sure enough, he wins his money and impresses his mother.
The performers try to take the edge off all this abusive behaviour, by for instance giving an ending in which Katherine is shown alone with Petruchio, placing her foot on his body and saying, “don’t ever try that shit with me again.”
Unfortunately, we can’t be sure what that refers to, and it can seem less a rebellion against abuse than a reinforcement of the practice.
Many men still believe women should be treated the way Katherine was abused. The allegations against Andrew Tate, the incredibly popular online influencer who has described himself as a “misogynist”, could almost have been a model for this play's depiction of Petruchio.
Depictions of women being mistreated might contribute to a better understanding of the way we need to change the world and in particular men’s behaviour. But to use the abuse of women simply for laughs is incredibly reckless.
This show is entertaining, well-performed and keeps the audience amused, but its representation of gender is misguided, and risks contributing to the continued abuse of women rather than ending it.