Olympia High School Theatre Arts Department Presents

#lovehate

An original adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew

Adaptation completed by Mr. Myers, the Cast, and Theatre 2 / 3 students. 

The Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays, albeit one of his most controversial in a modern light. With the classic 1967 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, to the Gen X classic update, 10 Things I Hate About You, the story has been a part of the pop culture landscape for decades. Considered one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, the play itself definitely has classic tropes of the genre: mistaken identity, love triangles (or even quadrangles), bawdy language, low humor with clownish characters, and it ends in a celebration. However, the exploration of the roles of gender in marriage and love is what gives this show a more dramatic flair and more serious tone ultimately resulting in The Taming of the Shrew being considered one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” because it doesn’t fit neatly in one box or the other.

It’s for this reason alone that we decided to tackle this script. The students of Theatre 2 and 3 read the script and an accompanying article from American Theatre magazine called, "Why Keep Doing Shakespeare? Maybe That’s the Wrong Question" written by Rob Weinert-Kent, which asserts that maybe the question to ask about Shakespeare is not whether or not to do it, but instead how to update it for a modern audience and highlight the relevancy of themes through a lens of inclusivity and exposure. This led us to start to question the play itself. Taming is often critically used as an example of Shakespeare’s misogyny and his beliefs on the role of women. However, what is lost is that Shakespeare wrote the play itself as a type of satire to the typical gender-roles that were prevalent in his time. So, as a class, and with the cast, we started to rewrite sections, flip genders on characters, update the language, and even use AI to help modernize whole parts of the play.

This is definitely not your grandparents' Shakespeare. Set inside a Drama Classroom full of cliques of students who are putting on the play for each other. During the production, we will watch how the groups of students start to intermingle and learn about each other while they openly question the text they’re reading. It’s a critical exploration live on stage with the great talents of our OHS Theatre Arts students! What more could you ask for?

Cast and Crew list can be found at: https://bit.ly/OHSLoveHateCast  

Tickets can be purchased online or at the door. https://www.purplepass.com/#u45261/Olympia_School_District_-_Theater_Productions.html 

Performances Dates & Times

February 10, 16, 17, 18, 2023

All performances will begin @ 7:30 PM. Doors will open at 7:00 PM.

Cost (All Seats are Reserved)

$7 for General Ticketed Patrons

$5 for Seniors (65 and older)

$5 for Students (18 and younger)

Follow us on Facebook & Instagram: @ohstheatrearts

Use the #ohslovehate to let people know you're coming

All attendees are encouraged to wear masks, but masks will not be required to be worn inside the PAC during the performance.

For questions, please email Dallas Myers: dmyers@osd.wednet.edu