“THE TAMING OF THE CHAV” aka “THE TAMING OF THE SHREW”

On a freezing cold morning of Friday 9th December, all our Year 9s and Year 10s assembled in the hall to watch Runshaw College drama students perform their alternative version of Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. This text is studied at the end of Year 9 in the English department so for Year 10, it was reflecting on the play and for Year 9, it was anticipating studying the play.

The subtle change from ‘shrew’ to ‘chav’ was the focus of the drama students from Runshaw. The company of 12 staged a lively, comical and unusual version of the play, packed into 40 minutes. Katherina, the ‘untameable’ shrew was a Liverpudlian chav feared by all men and women. Her poor sister, Bianca, is unable to marry Lucentio until someone agrees to marry Katherina first. The brave man to try to tame the formidable shrew is Petruccio.

The play was the perfect vehicle for the Runshaw drama students to show their versatility: through a mixture of physical theatre, slapstick comedy and high energy, they presented an alternative version of Shakespeare’s play using a clever blend of stereotyping and originality. Their soundtrack from Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ to Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ helped drive the themes home to the audience.

It was a memorable and enjoyable production which put Runshaw’s individual twist on Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the production. The applause at the end bore testimony to this.

Thank you to Runshaw drama students. We look forward to hosting their new production next year.

Mr Oliver,

English Department

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