Taming of the Shrew

I had an incredibly random but relevant memory the other day, and I thought that you guys would like to hear about it!

In 2000 (I was in 8th grade at the time), I went to Moreland Ridge Middle School, which is one of the feeder middle schools for Blue Springs South High School. That fall, South was doing Taming of the Shrew for their fall play, and it was touring to the middle schools, performing scenes and talking about the BSSHS drama department.

So Mrs Cooper starts talking about how drama works, and then they performed a scene. For those of you that haven't seen Taming of the Shrew, it's about two sisters and two men. One man loves the younger sister, Bianca, but she can't get married until her older sister gets married - and her older sister is reputed to be the meanest and nastiest woman in town. So a stranger named Petruchio moves in, and the lover asks him to woo the mean older sister. He does it.

The scene they performed was a classic scene for a Shakespearian fight - basically Petruchio and Katherine (the older sister) get into a fight in the town square. It's full of insults and barbs and slapstick, but the thing I remember most is this.

At one point, Katherine snaps something about stinging Petruchio, and he retorts "and where does a bee keep its sting?"

The way BSSHS staged it was Petruchio was supposed to bend her over his knee and slap her on the rear.

SO! Imagine, if you will, a gym full of 8th-graders watching David Cook bend his costar over his knee and give her a rude slap. All the while wearing classic 16th-century costumes and using Ye Olde Englishe.

Another Noob

Yes, as the name says, I did grow up in Blue Springs. Went to BSSHS for three years before I moved to California.

So! I'm Renee... I probably won't post much, but I just wanted to say hi!