When I first saw Lauren Gunderson's play
The Taming, in
a production by the dear departed Theatre Unbound, I remember not really getting it. But that was September of 2016, I was different then, the country was different then. That was before the 2016 election, before COVID, before George Floyd, before the 2020 election, before the 2021 insurrection, before the Epstein files, before the political violence that has affected our state so greatly, before the doubled-down horrors of Trump 2.0. Seeing Yellow Tree Theatre's new production of this play (that was surprisingly written in 2013), I get it now.
The Taming (inspired by Shakespeare's
Taming of the Shrew, but bearing little resemblance to it) is a hilarious and biting political satire that is sneakily brilliant; a play that was ahead of its time, and whose time has come. Very smart programming by Yellow Tree to open their 19th season with this play, as we celebrate 250 years of this grand experiment called the United States of America, and approach yet another election with a lot on the line.
Head to Osseo to laugh, have a good time, and get inspired.
And then vote.
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Jane Froiland, Grace Litzau, and Nora Targonski-O'Brien
(photo by Alex Clark) |
This play takes us through history, politics, and pageants in just 90 breathless minutes. It skewers both sides with its depiction of a loyal conservative senator's aide, willing to put up with her boss' flaws in order to do what she thinks is good for the country, and a liberal influencer, who has dedicated her life to saving a rare species of rodent (a shrew, natch) and loses sight of the big picture. We meet these women in the brief opening scenes, along with a pageant contestant who may appear as a blond Southern flighty young woman, but is actually the smartest person in the room. She is determined to throw out the constitution and write a new one, and enlists these two very different women to help, by locking them in a hotel room together. Somehow we're transported back to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where the founding fathers are writing the constitution, whom our characters are now inhabiting. They argue over slavery, women's rights, the electoral college, and more. Then we're suddenly back in the present, as the women continue to hash things out. Maybe, just maybe, this crazy plan will work.
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Grace Litzau, Jane Froiland, and Nora Targonski-O'Brien
(photo by Alex Clark) |
Yellow Tree's Artistic Director Austene Van directs the play, and gets the tone just right - zany and hilarious and brutal. This play is a wild ride, but just hold on tight, because this team knows where it's going and how to get there. The three-person cast is fantastic and just a joy to watch as they inhabit these characters that start out as caricatures, and turn into something more. Jane Froiland is the uptight conservative Patricia, Nora Targonski-O'Brien is the hippie-dippie Bianca, the two of them a dream team as they volley insults back and forth amidst the sexual tension. Completing the trio is Grace Litzau making a very impressive #TCTheater professional debut with a bold and fearless performance as Miss Georgia. All three of these actors understand the assignment, and fulfill it completely, with both verbal and physical humor (including a fabulous slo-mo scene and a fun TikTok dance).
The seemingly simple hotel room set has some tricks up its sleeves, and under its glittery blue bedspread. This suits the fantastical time traveling nature of the play, with patriotic lights, rotating panels, vintage flags, and both modern and old-timey props. The present-day costumes fit the characters to a T (a plain suit, hippie blouse and pants, and the most fabulous red, white, and blue pageant gear), with some fun costumey founding father clothes and wigs thrown on for the middle scene. (Scenic design by Sarah Brander, sound design by Jeff Bailey, lighting design by Alex Clark, costume design by Samantha Fromm Haddow.)
The Taming a wildly funny play that's more relevant now than when it was written, and Yellow Tree is doing a fantastic job bringing it to bold, colorful, unapologetic life on their imitate stage. I'm so glad I had another chance to see it, and confirm why Lauren Gunderson has since become my favorite playwright. See it Wednesdays through Sundays until November 1.
