Shrewd Move

A summer night in the North End. The moon hangs like a pizza pie above darkened fire escapes. There’s a whiff of roses and pheromones in the air as a dark-haired beauty appears. “I must, forsooth, be forced to give my hand opposed against my heart,” she says.

It’s less incongruous than it sounds. When Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s artistic director Steven Maler chose The Taming of the Shrew for this year’s free Shakespeare on the Common performance, he needed to find a believable setting for the play’s antiquated gender roles. He picked Boston’s Italian North End, circa 1950.

“I was looking for a world where the sexual politics made sense,” says Maler. “It’s very difficult to set this play in 2006.” Hence the set is modeled on Mamma Maria restaurant in North Square. The score is Louis Prima. The mood is heavy on the red sauce. “It’s exploring the Italian-American experience,” says Maler. “It seems that the men are in control, and the women may allow them to think so, but the mother’s the one in charge.”

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