The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew

The Drilling Company

Bryant Park

September 4, 2015

Photo courtesy of
The Drilling Company

The Drilling Company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew opened at Bryant Park on Friday, September 4.  Director Alessandro Colla’s rendition of this raucous Shakespeare comedy takes place in “Padua by the Sea,” a North Eastern fishing town similar to Amity from the move Jaws.  When Petruchio takes on the challenge of conquering the “great white shark” Kate, the outcome is abundant hilarity and true love.

Eric Paterniani, Alessandro Colla, Eli Branson
Photo by Jonathan Slaff, courtesy of The Drilling Company

In addition to directing, Mr. Colla also takes on the role of Petruchio.  His vision for the play is sharp and his interpretation of the character is impeccable.  He is equally matched and challenged by the fiery Evangeline Melody Fontaine as Kate, the shrew.  Mary Linehan is mischievous and beguiling as Bianca, and Lukas Raphael is charming and sincere as Lucentio.  Eric Paterniani and Eli Branson deliver the laughs as Grumio and Curtis.  The entire cast deserves a shout out: Jarrod Bates, Michael Bernstein, Colleen Cosgrove, Jonathan Eric Foster, Bill Galarno, Brandon Reilly, Jack Sochet, and Mike Taylor.  They work as a team creating strong, appealing characters that make this production of The Taming of the Shrew a winner. 

Evangeline Melody Fontaine, Bill Galarno, Mary Linehan
Photo by Jonathan Slaff, courtesy of The Drilling Company

Jen Varbalow’s set design is clean and simple.  She is able to focus the audience’s attention on the specific locations of the play in the expansive Bryant Park outdoor space.  Anna Grossman’s sound design transports the audience to these locations with updated music and atmospheric effects.

This is the final production of The Drilling Company’s 2015 summer season.  Over the past six months, Artistic Director Hamilton Clancy successfully produced five free outdoor Shakespeare performances in two different locations in the city.  The Taming of the Shrew plays at Bryant Park Fridays and Saturday at 6:30 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM through September 20.  End the summer on a high note… go see it!  Yes, it is FREE!

Domenick Danza

Macbeth

Macbeth

The Drilling Company

Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

August 1, 2015

Photo courtesy of
The Drilling Company

The Drilling Company is batting a thousand this summer with their twenty-first season of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot.  Macbeth opened on July 30 in the parking lot behind The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center (located at 114 Norfolk Street - east side of Norfolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets).  The production, directed by Jesse Ontiveros, had a very strong and haunting opening weekend.  It has a limited run, so don’t miss it.

Dan Teachout is solid as Macbeth.  His guilt-ridden downward spiral into destruction is clear and complex.  As Lady Macbeth, Sheri Graubert portrays an insatiable hunger for power that leads to obscure madness.  Together these two actors lead the audience into the depths of Shakespeare’s most haunting play.  Other strong performances are Lucas Calzado as Malcolm, Veronica Cruz as Lady Macduff, Kineta Kunutu as Hecate, and, for most needed comic relief, Bill Green as the drunken Porter. 

Macbeth (Dan Teachout) and the Witches
(Gracie Winchester, Kineta Kunutu, and Llewie Nunez)
Photo by Jonathan Slaff and courtesy of The Drilling Company

Costumes, by Lisa Renee Jordan, and set, by Leontine Greenberg, are simple and effective.  Sound design, by Anna Grossman, adds just the right texture needed to transform the informal parking lot into a dark castle, a witch’s forest, and a bloody battlefield.

Macbeth runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 PM through August 15.  Admission is FREE, so get there!  The final show of the Shakespeare in the Parking Lot season will be The Taming of the Shrew at Bryant Park September 4 – 20.  Mark your calendars!  It is sure to be another classic sensation from The Drilling Company.

Domenick Danza