Taming of the Shrew at the Blackfriars Playhouse
It definitely was not in my plans when I decided to take a few days of relaxation traveling by train to Staunton Virginia. But once there, it was too great an opportunity to pass up.
I went to see a Shakespearean play!
Walking from my hotel to the center of the historic district of this city in the Shenandoah Valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I passed a closed door on a building that had signs promoting a Summer Shakespeare Spectacular! That’s when I learned about the Folio400 celebration, honoring the 400th anniversary of the first printing of Shakespeare’s work.
The play, one of three different plays by the Bard on stage in Staunton this summer, was being performed at the Blackfriars Playhouse.
While I was reading all the information, Sue, who is employed at the theater, opened the door to say Hi and welcome me to the city…. Virginians are like that, known for their friendliness and hospitality. The Blackfriars Playhouse is special, she said, explaining it is the only re-creation in the world of Shakespeare’s original indoor theater.
“Why don’t you see for yourself,” she said, explaining the play was going on that night and there were no seats, but there were a couple of seats for the following night.
She invited me into the lobby for more conversation and told me something about the theater itself.
The Blackfriars Playhouse building in Staunton is a reproduction of the original Blackfriars Théâtre where Shakespeare charged three times as much for tickets to his plays as he did for outdoor seating. Originally a 13th century monastery, the buildings and gardens were split off and sold when Henry VIII did away with the Catholic Church in the 16th century. One of those buildings was converted into the Blackfriars Playhouse which was in business til lost in the Great Fire of London in the 17th century.
In Staunton, the Blackfriars Playhouse is a replica based on archaeological excavations, deeds, and drawings, including the stage. Sue explained all the seats in the theater surround the stage, the actors interact with the audience as they come to the stage from all directions, and there are even a dozen seats directly on the stage, six on each side. She made it all sound unique and interesting enough to plunk down $60 for a seat at the next night’s performance.
What’s more, Sue said with continued enthusiasm, come an hour early; there’s a lounge upstairs where you can have a glass of wine and some snacks.
As it happened, there was one seat left on the stage, so I opted for that to be up front and close for the entire experience.
The play on stage that night seemed rather appropriate for a female journalist like me. The Taming of the Shrew should be a delight to see!
Arriving early the next evening, I did go upstairs to the lounge, where Julia was busy entertaining guests, laughing, pouring wine and continuing that Virginia charm. A graduate of nearby Mary Baldwin College, she is working on her second master’s degree, studying Shakespeare, theater, and fulfilling her love for the Bard she had since first learning about him in third grade. Sure, she’s a Shakespearean actress, has even played a role in The Taming of the Shrew, but even when not in the play, she works at the Playhouse just to be around the thrill and magic of Shakespeare casts.
My seat was indeed directly on the stage, and the actors indeed interacted with the audience in magnetic and compelling ways. Coming up from the audience aisle in front, an actor would reach out his hand for me to help me get on stage. Or would tremble sitting at my feet or next to me when Petruchio got too persistent, or Katherina could not be wooed and wed.
Here I was, not having read Shakespeare since Julius Ceasar in high school several decades ago and was right in the middle of a professional reenactment of one of his greatest works!
The Blackfriars Playhouse … Memories you can’t forget.
The play was two hours long, with a 15-minute intermission, another trip to the upstairs lounge and more captivating conversation with Julia and a couple from Michigan also enjoying glasses of wine, meeting new people and talking about the excellence of the cast, the humor of the dialogue, the beguiling presentation we were all witnessing.
And when it was over, Sue at the Blackfriars Playhouse box office was happy to hear how exciting it was not only to see Taming of the Shrew but indeed to have one of the best seats in the house. As she had indicated the day before when we first met, it would only take her a few minutes to close up the theater before heading home. And on the way, she would take me back to the Blackburn Inn where I was spending another night before heading back to New Jersey on the next afternoon’s Amtrak Cardinal.
Taming the Shrew? Perhaps not possible! Being entertained in Shakespeare’s way of showing how it should be done? Blackfriars Playhouse … An experience that will live forever.
