Kiss Me, Kate – Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Edward Baker-Duly and Rebecca Lock in Kiss Me, Kate at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Picture: Manuel Harlan

Kiss Me, Kate continues at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield until 12 January 2019.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Cole Porter’s music for Kiss Me, Kate has everything needed for a delightful evening in the theatre: comedic wit (‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’); one of the greatest of torch songs (‘So in Love’); spectacular opportunities for the ensemble to shine (‘It’s Too Darn Hot’) and much more.

So, despite the energy occasionally brimming over into raucousness, this production at the Crucible ticks all the boxes for a great evening at the theatre.

However, no one today can feel comfortable with a plot that features Shakespearean-age gender politics of a woman starved, beaten and sleep-deprived into submission, and concluding with a number like ‘I Am Ashamed That Women Are So Simple’, sung here by Rebecca Lock through teeth that are so gritted it is difficult to hear the words.

The backstage parallel story, to the on-stage Taming of the Shrew, mitigates some of the unease, but I have a feeling that in order to continue producing the show, future directors will have to doctor the ending in the way that Leo Muscato recently amended Carmen.

Lock, as Lilli/Katharine, gives a fine rendition of Kate as a harridan: one man, in particular, was squirming in the front row as she spat the mock-venom of ‘I Hate Men’ in his direction. Yet she can do the vulnerability of the character too and clearly relishes the opportunity to deploy her soprano in the Lehar-ish ‘Wunderbar’.

Edward Baker-Duly, as Fred/Petruchio, also rides the peaks and troughs of comedy and romance with ease. For me, his reprise of ‘So in Love’ in Act II has the edge on Lock’s Act I version, but the main character key-note of his performance is bravura pastiche.

As in so many musicals of this era, Cole Porter opted for second leads to carry the weight of the comic sub-plot. Amy Ellen Richardson, as Lois/Bianca, copes admirably with the pace of ‘Always True to You in My Fashion’ and she has a fine stage presence playing the gold-digger/ingénue with style.

While she is primarily a singer, opposite her is the athletic Dex Lee as Bill/Lucentio. Perfectly capable of solo work, he also integrates seamlessly with the men of the ensemble.

Delroy Atkinson, as the short one, and Joel Montague, as the taller of the two gangsters, are suitably hapless, but fail to stop the show with the comic genius of ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’. Director Paul Foster has them delivering the third false ending to the number from the band’s gallery. Musical director James McKeon seems anything but comfortable with such direct involvement.

Choreographer Matt Flint deploys the ensemble to all parts of the stage and even manages to accommodate a very creditable trumpet solo for Simon Oskarsson into ‘Too Darn Hot’.

All audiences are required to suspend disbelief in order for theatre to work. Janet Bird’s set design stretches audience credulity, however, by using cartoonish representations of the on-stage, Shakespeare sections. Inevitably, flying parts of the set in means that the arches and screens are flimsy, although the frequent props changes are wheeled around efficiently.

This is a fine cast, with singing of a consistently high quality throughout. However, the final feeling is one of an opportunity missed.

Mike Tilling