Untamed ‘Shrew’ Puts Gimmicks Before Text

When an actor raps Shakespearean dialogue on in-line skates, you know you’re in trouble. Ashley Carr Jr.’s staging of “The Taming of the Shrew” at Cal Rep’s new Edison Theatre is a bread-and-circus Shakespeare of the worst order: shrill, aerobicized and insultingly idiot-proofed.

Set in and around Ms. Baptista’s boxing gym in modern-day Long Beach, the play has been “freely adapted” by Carr, whose staging is an exercise in distraction. Apparently, Carr’s philosophy is: When in doubt, shout or, better, throw another gimmick into the mix. Actors posture in goofy wigs and funny false teeth, but few could be accused of actually listening to the others.

The action is unvaryingly frenetic, as demonstrated by Kate and Petruchio’s initial scene, a sparring match in the gym’s boxing ring choreographed by Holly Harbinger. However, as in most of the production, the text is secondary to the concept. Energetic but empty, the entire enterprise reminds one of an acting-class concentration exercise in which one is required to recite soliloquies while skipping rope.

Straining mightily, the performers labor to shore up the flimsy conceit with sheer sweat equity. As Kate, Jennifer Fowler pants, snarls and grimaces until you want to leap onstage and give her a face massage. By contrast, Dawn Flood’s Bianca is refreshingly laid-back, and Patric Taylor’s goombah Gremio successfully sends up Rodney Dangerfield. To his everlasting credit, Baron Kelly snatches moments of comic stature as Petruchio--no mean feat amid the general indignity.

* “The Taming of the Shrew,” Edison Theatre, 213 E. Broadway, Long Beach. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 7 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 20. $20. (562) 985-7000. Running time: 2 hours.