The Taming Should be the Right Play at the Right Time, But Somehow it Isn’t at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo

The Taming by Lauren Gunderson, who is consistently one of the most-produced playwrights every year, would seem like a safe choice to open the theater season. Stack on top of that the fact that it’s a political play right before the midterm elections, at a time when politics are very much in the forefront of our collective minds. But for some reason, this play just doesn’t connect very strongly. It isn’t the performances. The three actors, including newcomer Grace Litzau, are all superb. I think it’s the structure of the play, specifically the middle section, that derails the production.

The play opens with brief introductions to the characters. Katherine, played by Grace Litzau, is a contestant in the Miss American competition. Patricia, played by Jane Froiland, is the aide to a U.S. senator about to propose a new bill. Nora Targonski-O’Brien plays Bianca, a left-wing social media influencer with a pet cause and dirt on the senator. After their basics are revealed and they have some slight interaction, we cut to a hotel room, where Patricia and Bianca awaken having been drugged. Katherine, it is revealed, has drugged them both in order to get them to help her rewrite the Constitution. What follows are debates and discussions on the state of politics in our country. At one point, Patricia and Bianca decide that if they work together, they can overtake Katherine and get out of their captivity, but she is a step ahead of them and sprays them with ether.

The next section is, one assumes, an ether dream, as the three are back in the 1700s as Founding Fathers working on the Constitution. Again, there are discussions of a political nature, including a possibly semi-accurate account of some of the conversations and compromises that occurred. Then we are back in the present day. There is a revelation here that is really clever and would have been a much better reveal in a play that didn’t spend a third of its runtime in a dream.

There are several things that just didn’t connect for me. There is supposedly a link to Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, but I don’t see it. I feel like the play would have worked so much better if it had stayed in the present and explored the idea of these three women coming together and actually discussing how to change the Constitution.

Maybe I’m being too harsh on the play. Faithful readers will know that this is only my second review after having undergone surgery earlier in the week. It’s possible that while my body was ready for the outing, my brain wasn’t, and I missed things. I found the ideas floating around to be engaging, and the performances were strong. There is a nice blend of humor and politics, so if that’s your cup of tea, you will definitely get something out of this.

The Taming runs through November 1 at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://yellowtreetheatre.com/the-taming.

I want to alert you faithful readers to a new Website that has just started up in the Twin Cities. It’s called 79 Seconds on Stage and it is a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

Don’t rely on Facebook or Instagram algorithms to keep you in the loop about great shows. Subscribe and have every post from The Stages of MN delivered straight to your inbox. It’s the best way to make sure you never miss out on the theater action. To subscribe on a computer, enter your email address on the home page (right-hand side) and click subscribe. On mobile, scroll to the bottom of the page to find the same option. You can also follow me on Facebook @thestagesofmn and on Instagram thestagesofmn.