FOR HEN-PECKED HUSBANDS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 61, 23 August 1940, Page 55

FOR HEN-PECKED HUSBANDS

"Taming Of The Shrew" N Shakespeare’s day shrews and termagants and hen-pecking wives must have been very plentiful, judging by the frequent references to them in Elizabethen literature, and Shakespeare probably earned the gratitude of many a downtrodden husband when he first presented his " Taming of the Shrew." He knew a thing or two, did William Shakespeare, and he knew that his comedy would appeal to the crowds who came pouring into the Globe Theatre, And it still provides plenty of laughs for a modern audience.

There‘s proof enough of the popularity of "The Taming of the Shrew" in the frequent productions of it everywhere. It was first produced, so we're told, about 1594, and it has managed to tickle the funnybone of audiences ever since. The most notable of recent productions have been those of the "Old Vic" company in 1927, by Ralph Richardson and Phyllis Thomas in 1931, by Leslie Banks and Edith Evans in 1937 at the New Theatre, and in March, last year, at the "Old Vic" with Roger Livesey and Ursula Jeans. And it was even done in modern dress at the Court Theatre a few years ago. Another recent production of note was that by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne for the Theatre Guild in New York. Film fans will probably remember a screen version of it some years ago with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. And now comes the radio version, The NBS have skilfully adapted the play so that none of the comedy has been lost, and they engaged a national cast to present it. Among the players are Mae McDonald (from Napier) who takes the role of the raging shrew, Katherina; and Anita Winkle, from Dunedin, who appears as the sister, "the gentle, fair Bianca." Listeners should enjoy this NBS production when it is broadcast from 2YA Wellington on Sunday, August 25, at 9.15 p.m.