A 'Shrew' like a big pizza pie.

Byline: Jim Farber, Correspondent

As in every production of Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," opportunistic Petruchio has come "to wive it wealthily in Padua." But the Padua of A Noise Within's new production bids a fond farewell to Shakespeare's era and places the action in the 1950s Italy of Federico Fellini and Vittorio de Sica. Think of it as "The Taming of the Shrew" meets "The Bicycle Thief" and "La Dolce Vita" with Dean Martin crooning "That's Amore" in the background.

It's basically the same clever formula South Coast Repertory employed for its "Taming of the Shrew" many years ago and that Woody Allen used to great advantage in September for his Italian neo-realist setting of Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" for Los Angeles Opera.

In A Noise Within's production, directed with flare, if not an abundance of psychological depth, by Geoff Elliot, Steve Weingartner plays Petruchio as a rather tattered down-at-heels Mafioso type, a pint-size Little Caesar with an abundance of attitude.

He and Allegra Fulton, who plays a very mature, seemingly unmarriageable Katherine, are well-matched. But unlike most productions, Elliot's direction seems to imply this is a case of love at first sight. It just takes two acts for these two strong-willed fighters to exchange blows and measure the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents, before they can come together in the clinches and form a lasting alliance of love.

Over the ages, Shakespeare's battle of the sexes dynamic has provided directors with a wealth of interpretations, from knock-down, drag-out commedia farce to black-and-blue sado-masochism. Elliot's direction floats around somewhere in the middle ground. His characters tend to be more playfully comic than violently neurotic. One moment it's like watching Spencer Tracy trying to tame Kate Hepburn. But when the frustration level hits its peaks Weingartner suddenly starts to rant and rave like one of the Three Stooges.

Fulton is not really a shrew. She's just strong-willed, high-strung and filled with jealousy toward her perfect blond sister, "the fair Bianca" (Jane Noseworthy). Personally, I like to see Bianca played as a spoiled brat who has become skilled at taunting her older sister into a rage and never getting blamed for her actions. Noseworthy plays Bianca as a blond cipher. As opposed to Katherine, she represents the type of "perfect beauty" and lack of will that men think they desire in a woman.

The large ensemble cast is consistently skilled in its delivery of Shakespeare's text and equally adept at all the comic interplay, from subtle jibes to raucous pratfalls.

Alan Blumenfield is particularly funny as Petrichio's oft-pummeled servant, Grumio. Tom Fitzpatrick and Stephen Rockwell vie well against each other as the competing suitors, Gremio and Hortensio, only to lose out to Antonie Knoppers as young Lucentio and his clever servant, Tranio (Jeremy Rabb). Katherine's long-suffering father, Baptista, is played by Apollo Dukakis.

The evocative set design, with its glowing black and white televisions, is by Kurt Boetcher. The '50s style costuming is by Soojin Lee.

The tuneful musical accompaniment is provided by Dean Martin, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Above, Antonie Knoppers (Lucentio) and Jane Noseworthy (Bianca) in A Noise Within's "The Taming of the Shrew." Below, Allegra Fulton (Kate) and Steve Weingartner (Petruchio).

Box:

The Taming of the Shrew - Three stars