Running Dog Productions (RDP) is starting the year off strong with their fall play, a “reality”-TV twist on the Elizabethan classic “The Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare. RDP’s cast and crew have been working hard to present their first production of the year to the school and local community.
Sophomore Ella Pendleton, who is a part of the cast, has been with Running Dog Productions since her freshman year. Pendleton has acknowledged that this production is a little more challenging than past productions due to it being an adaptation of Shakespeare.
“The biggest challenge in this production is definitely trying to learn your lines, because not only is there so many lines for each character in the show, but it’s also Shakespeare,” Pendleton said. “Which is really hard to manage, especially because RDP has not done a Shakespeare show recently.”
Shakespeare can be very hard to translate and understand because it is early-modern English, which is not used today. Nevertheless, RDP performers have tackled this challenge by practicing their lines consistently.
“In this production, [the challenge] is definitely understanding Shakespeare, because for me, at least, I never know if I’m doing it right,” senior Ashleigh Allen said. “We’ve really tackled that by sitting down every week and going through the script and making sure we all know what’s happening and all of our words mean because it’s older English.”
There are other challenges in this production as well. Because RDP is taking a reality show twist on Shakespeare’s classic, the cast has to be a little more creative when it comes to the script.
“Since it’s a reality TV show, we’re not playing it directly by the script, which is really interesting.” Pendleton said.
This play may be very different from past productions of the same name, but it has a similar plot of a beloved romantic comedy that is also well known.
“It’s a plot of ‘10 Things I Hate About You,’” junior Madeline Moyer said. “So if you’ve seen that–it’s a well loved rom-com–we’ve kind of done that and done a similar twist on it.”
Though it is supposed to be a funny, lighthearted show, there is an emotional side of the production that the audience should expect.
“I hope that [the audience realizes] that, while being a funny show, it’s also very meaningful because of the message that’s conveying about how [men] treat women,” Pendleton said. “So also getting laughs, but also understanding the real emotional side of it.”
The Taming of the Shrew is showing from Oct. 23, 24, and 25 at 7:00 p.m. and also at 2:00 p.m. on Oct. 25. Tickets are available online at sbhstheater.org or at the door.
