tamingofshrewlead Knowing that we all have too much to do and too little time to do it, I wondered why about 200 people were coming together for each preview of  Taming of the Shrew at Long Beach Playhouse. What would bring that many people out for a 400-year-old play by Shakespeare? So I talked with people on both sides of the experience—artists and audience—as I tried to solve “The Audience Mystery: or Who Goes to See Shakespeare, and Why?”

Scene 1: The piano bar, Long Beach Playhouse. Mario and Sha Granville are enjoying the music, together with his mother, Delaura Granville, and a friend, Jonathan Evans. (PHOTO: From left: Delaura Granville, Mario Granville, Sha Granville, and Jonathan Evans.) 1shrewno6

Interviewer: What brings you here this evening and what do you expect from the show?

Mario Granville: I play piano and I thought I was playing tonight but I wasn’t, so the theatre offered me tickets. I’ve only seen two other plays, but this is Shakespeare so I’ve got high expectations because it seems like he’s the greatest.

Delaura Granville: Mario’s my son so I came to see him. I never saw a Shakespeare play before so I’m really interested. I love to see plays but don’t get much chance. I promote the playhouse at my job because I think more people should get out and see plays—it’s better than a movie. People need to make time to enjoy themselves—work, work, work.

Sha Granville: I saw the play before, and also 10 Things I Hate About You (the film and TV series based on Taming of the Shrew). But tonight I’ve no idea what to expect since we didn’t expect to be here! I was an English Major at UCLA and I hope the way they deliver the lines is accessible and allows people to get the point.

Jonathan Evans: I just want to be entertained. Don’t know if I will cry or laugh—I just want to have an emotion that’s not confusion!

*  *  *

2shrewno7j Across the bar, Diane and Stephen Kramer are waiting for the theatre doors to open.

Why are you here tonight?

Diane Kramer: I’m taking a class with Pam Watson at CSULB’s Lifelong Learning Institute, about the women in Shakespeare’s plays. I’m curious to see this “western-style version” and whether they use Shakespeare’s English. Although we live close by, we don’t come to the Playhouse often. There are so many other things to do but because of the class, I wanted to see it.

If you have the choice between a movie and a play, which will you see?

DK: Tough question. I love the closeness of live performance, but enjoy the setting and assurance of known actors’ performances. The Taming of the Shrew movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton is tough to beat.

3shrewno10 Scene 2: Inside the theatre, last minute preparations are underway for the first show with an audience. Director, Gregory Cohen, and set designer, Naomi Kasahara, take time to talk.

Interviewer: Why did you choose this show?
Gregory Cohen: For over ten years, the powers-that-be here did not feel Shakespeare was audience-friendly for this theatre. That limited the choices to comedy and Shrew is meaty. It’s thought of as chauvinist and misogynistic but I wanted to look at what else it says. It isn’t about Petruchio breaking Katherine—he reflects her behavior back at her, showing that if she behaves better, he would behave better. That makes the play more about mutual respect.

How do you expect audiences of different ages to respond?

GC: We have all ages in the cast, from a gentleman in his 80’s to a high school freshman. I hope that having high school and college students in the show will create a link to those audiences and encourage them to come. It may be their first taste of live theatre but no one needs to study. It’s fun. I edited the text and if I spent any time at all translating a line, it’s out of there. I don’t want people to get hung up on not understanding. The themes and story are relevant to all and I didn’t want language to be a barrier.

Why do you do theatre?

GC: I saw my first show when I was in 4th grade: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown—front row—it’s been a lifelong passion. I have an innate understanding of it—my mom was an actor, my dad took photos at local theatres, my whole family was involved.

***

How was your experience of designing this production? 4shrewno11

Naomi Kasahara: I’m not a big Shakespeare fan; I had never done Shakespeare. I realized it would be a challenge. When I design, I try to connect the story to myself. I have sisters, too, so how would I feel if my dad always loved my younger sister more than me? When I read it I didn’t like the gender issues. But now I see how a person changes for love. Some people may not like the show, still. They may see only the gender issues but I think there is more to it than that.

You came to CSULB from Japan. Do you plan to work in theatre when you return?

After I go back, I’m interested in taking the idea of accessible theatre and trying it in community settings. I think that art is still more associated with status in Japan and I’d like to see more community-based art, like this.

Houselights fade, stage lights up. Director Gregory Cohen takes the stage for a pre-show announcement:

“Hi everyone and welcome. How many people are friends of the cast? How many are here because it’s a really cheap night of theatre? (Lots of nodding heads.) You are playing an important part tonight—by now, those of us who have worked for weeks have lost sight of the show. We need reaction—that’s what tonight is about—to give the cast real audience response. So, loosen your gun belts and have a rip roaring time—yee haw!”

With that, a barroom brawl breaks out on stage and actors and audience embark on the first performance of Taming of the Shrew.

Scene 3: The lobby, after the show. A crowd of people wait for the actors.

Bobby Bruton, Paul Roberson, and Genah Redding are waiting for their friend, Meghan Penny, who stage managed the show and played the Widow. 5shrewno13

Did the play live up to your expectations?

Genah: I try not to have expectations, but to come to a show with an open mind. We wouldn’t have come to the preview if our friend, Meghan, wasn’t stage managing and in the show. We would have waited to see how it was before going.

Paul Poberson: But even if a play is bad, you have the live connection—unlike film. All of us want to make a career in theatre as actors, directors, and writers.

*** 

Andrew Vonderschmitt, artistic director of Long Beach Playhouse, stands and surveys the scene of actors greeting friends and family. He looks pleased.

AV: This is a great way to connect with new audiences—having college and high school students in the cast brings in new audience groups. One cast member has friends planned for every performance.

***

A group of Segerstrom High School sophomores and juniors excitedly wait for their classmates, cast members Sergio Tapia, Jada Shalae Sintora, and Kristina Anderson. Alejandra Garcia, Samantha Gorman, Alyssa Galvan, Tiffany Truong, and Yahaira Vilchis all had a great time. They laughed a lot and agreed that it exceeded their expectations.

Why don’t more people of your age go to theatre?

All: Because they didn’t try it! They just know the stereotype of it, “all the nerds are in drama! Those freaks!” But when people try it, they love it. (Interview ends abruptly as their friends arrive in the lobby.)

***

6shrewv Ann Margaret broke away from a conversation with friends to talk about her reaction.
AM: I see lots of productions here. I enjoy previews because of the reduced prices and I see shows at Long Beach Shakespeare Company also. I like Shakespeare. I didn’t know about the western flare; it was surprising but entertaining. When I come to a Shakespeare play, I expect a different way of looking at situations than I would experience on a day-to-day basis.

Scene 5: Back in the bar—empty now, as most people have left the theatre, except for some actors.

Amber Bonasso (Katherine) and David Santana (Petruchio) talk about their stage relationship and relationship with the audience. 7shrew
Amber Bonasso: The director, Greg, wanted a romantic relationship, so it’s important that you see Kate and Petruchio are attracted to each other. She gets mad at him—he’s a donkey—but enthralled by the fact he doesn’t back down from her. She starts having a good time.

David Santana: People should come because it’s fun. A lot of people have hangups about Shakespeare but it’s fun. I’m having fun.

AB: I hope the audience goes on a ride with us, through the ups and downs. Tonight, there were a couple of people in the audience commenting on the action—they were right there with us—it was great.

What do you expect the audience will experience from the show?

DS: I don’t know. Obviously the audience is a big part of any show and you try to give something to them. But it’s also for yourself—you can’t rely on the audience all the time. Sometimes it just has to be fun for you. You have to love what you’re doing and hopefully they come along with you.

***

8shrew (PHOTO, left to right: Don Dench (CURTIS), Sergio Tapia (NATHANIEL), Josh Gren (GRUMIO)

Josh Gren plays Grumio, servant to Petruchio.

What do you think the audience experiences at this production?

Josh Gren: I’d like to think that the preview audiences (mostly friends and family) take away a sense of pride in the community—friends and family and people you’ve never met before, who have the time, energy, and creativity to put this production together. They see friends and family giving their all to the show, for the audience’s enjoyment.

I always want the audience to be entertained, to be taken away from the world of economic crisis, war, and the Dodgers being removed from their owners. I love the theatre for its entertainment value. It can make you feel all emotions but if I know that people left the theatre having enjoyed themselves, I’m satisfied.

Why do you act?

JG: It’s extremely cathartic. It’s a place that I go to escape from whatever pressures I’m experiencing—for three or four hours every night I get to be to be someone else, to go somewhere else. My life is based in business and logic now that I’m a theatre manager, so it’s wonderful to experience this as well.

***

Whether audience members arrived by random chance or by design, most were there because of a relationship to someone in the show. In the cosy intimacy of the theatre, friends and family members drew a little closer as they witnessed the results of weeks of rehearsals and, after the show, the lobby buzz was electric as audience and actors came together for instant feedback.

By definition, relationships involve at least two parts; if we don’t have both Petruchio and Katherine, The Taming of the Shrew is just a Shrew. In the same way, theatre without an audience is just a rehearsal. In both cases, the relationship works better when both partners get to know each other. Some of the best theatre criticism happens in the car on the way home after a show, so, if you saw Taming of the Shrew, please tell us about your experience by adding your comments below. Was it just confusion, as Jonathan anticipated before the show? Did you cry? Did you laugh?

PS: Sha Granville, the accidental audience member who had expected to enjoy her husband’s piano-playing and found herself at a production instead, followed up with an email about her experience, “I am happy the script was not changed or softened, and it made for a cool experience—access to renaissance language in a modern environment—which will encourage more people to enjoy the classics and see more Shakespeare, which is always a great thing.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Victoria Bryan recently completed a research study with Long Beach theatres and their audience members.  Analysis of the data reveals that audience satisfaction is closely linked to aspects of the relationship between patrons and the theatres they attend.  She will explore those relationships further in a series of articles for Greater Long Beach.