Commedia! - Taming of the Shrew - American Conservatory Theater - 1976 PART 2

Commedia! - Taming of the Shrew - American Conservatory Theater - 1976 PART 2

Part 2 of the 1976 production - by the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco - of a brilliant Commedia del Arte' style rendition of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew".

Elements to note in this segment -

The transition between scenes (end of Part 1 and begging of this segment) using music and simple staging

The physical exaggerations that indicate character - Gremio's posture and voice, Petruchio's wide-legged walk and stances, his chest-out-arms-wide movements that indicate his pride and strength

Petruchio's servant - Grumio - who uses quick movement and tumbles to emphasize his low status but also accentuates the comedy.

I plan to put up the entire play in segments, and hope that I will not fall afoul of copyright - seeing as how this production is over 40 years old. My aim is to give examples to others of the brilliant choices director William Ball and his repertory troupe made in this production that turned an already funny and poignant play into a tour-de-force.

If you ever have the luck to become part of a Commedia-style play -- here is a smorgasbord of how it is done! :)