The Nita

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This July, director Anita Kilgour and her new theatre company TenBareToes Entertainment bring Shakespeare’s classic battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew, to the Elmira Theatre Company.

After many years in community theatre, with sold out productions as both director and producer, Anita Kilgour realised she was looking for a company that dedicated itself to enjoying creating theatre while fostering a professional approach. TenBareToes is her attempt to achieve that goal: that community theatre should be about the sheer joy of doing theatre to entertain an audience.

“It can be simple and easy,” Kilgour says, “Take talented people, provide them an environment where people can work, but without the stress that can go with it – and let them give audiences something fun to enjoy and cherish.” This philosophy seems to be working, attracting cast and crew from several local theatre companies to her banner.

So why choose The Taming of the Shrew as the company’s inaugural production? Viewing the story through the cracked mirror of a historical romance novel, Kilgour presents a fanciful twist by bringing the story forward slightly to the age of the privateer. When asked why this choice, she responded, “Petruchio (Nicholas Oddson) doesn’t entirely follow society’s rules and niceties.  He knows what he wants, knows what he needs to do and follows that course.  He isn’t a classic polite gentleman – he’s a scoundrel.  Leaving him in the original period didn’t feel right, but the modern day didn’t feel right either. The best time for the appealing scoundrel is that wonderfully mythic time that every historical romance novel gets wrapped in.”

Kate (Polly Edwards) has also undergone some change by Kilgour.  “Kate has been played in the past as everything from the incredibly loud, cranky witch through to the modern emancipated woman.  What I wanted to highlight was Kate’s utter lack of adulthood and manners.  Kate is a spoiled brat.”

Given the headstrong nature of both characters, Anita offers this comment to address the question of Kate & Petruchio’s reconciliation at the end of the play. “Kate doesn’t ‘give in’ to Petruchio.  He doesn’t ‘tame’ her; so much as he forces her to look square in the face of her behaviour by mirroring it.  She has to address the fact that she doesn’t think of others when she demands what she wants.  She realises that she can be every bit the strong woman that she is without having to squish everyone else around her to prove it.  Kate isn’t tamed.  Kate is shown how being an adult is every bit as rewarding as being a brat – by someone who can be as much of either of those as she is.”

Performances are July 8-10, 15-17, 22-24 all at 8pm, with a special preview performance July 6 at the Elmira Theatre Company, 76 Howard Ave, Elmira.  Tickets are $18 ($9 for the preview) and can be ordered from the company website.