Taming of the Shrew (CST 2010)

So a week ago I saw a production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. This was of particular interest to me because I had been in a production of Taming in the fall, so I had actually brought a couple members of the cast with me. What is interesting about this particular production is that Neil Labute (Reasons to Be Pretty is one of my favorites) wrote a framing for the play in lieu of the Christofer Sly stuff. The introduction is effectivly Kiss Me Kate except with the focus on the actual Shakespeare. It follows the drama between the director and the actress playing Kate (who are in a lesbian relationship), and Kate is constantly flirting with the actress playing Bianca. Many critics have HATED the introduction (Chris Jones of the Tribune was one of them, "You can hear the painful screeches of uncertainty and artifice") and I attempted to go in with an open mind, but in the end it just dosn't work. Though I suppose it's attempting to comment on gender issues, it seems irrelevant and unneccesary. But what's really tragic about this is how great the Shakespeare is. It's hillarious, acted perfectly, and the tricky message of the play is handled very well. Josie Rourke can direct a mean Shakespeare (she directed a Twelfth Night last year that I loved) but as soon as it shifts into the Labute material things become slow moving and ultimatly kind of boring. It's like one half of the show is apoligizing for the other. I suppose this was added in order to bring people into the theatre by doing something different with the material, which has become a trend (a pool onstage in Twelfth Night, Macbeth set in modern times). But as interesting as these are, it makes me wonder why they don't think that the material can stand for itself. If you love Shakespeare set it free, and don't trap it with gimmicks.