Similarities Between Macbeth And Taming Of The Shrew

LASALLE College of the Arts presents a modern adapation of William Shakespeare’s double bill. The Taming of the Shrew was directed by Stefanos Rassios and Macbeth was directed by Adam Marple. The Taming of the Shrew featured Level 2 BA (Hons) Musical Theatre students and Macbeth featured Level 2 BA (Hons) Acting students, in collaboration with the students from Diploma in Technical and Production Management.

The double bill begun with The Taming of the Shrew where Rassios directed the play with a modern North American theme keeping the Shakespearean language. However, he did not fully follow the original script for example, Baptista is a woman in his adaptation and the play ended with Katherina who conspired with her husband, Petruchio to murder Christopher Sly in the induction part of the play. A transition of the lightings from amber to cold chilling dark blue could be seen. Thus, Rassios turned the comedy into a tragedy, which prepared the audience for the next play, Macbeth. A word to describe the Marple’s adaptation was abstract. The play was set in dark and sombre lightings where the casts wore futuristic-looking costumes. The use of experimental music filled the theatre with suspense and minimal props were utiltised.

Thus, in this paper, a performative analysis of the Shakespeare double bill of plays, The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth will be conducted to critically analyse and evaluate the study of similar themes found in both plays such as oppression and power. Character portrayals will be analysed in greater details and this paper will investage the further on the costumes, props and