On New Bubs And Shakespeare

Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew is a divisive work, a comedy about the cruel conditioning of women that, depending where you stand, promotes or satirises a patriarchal oppression of women. An argument for the timelessness of themes addressed in Shakespeare's plays hardly even needs to be made: the issues remain as relevant as they were in the 16th century, as pressing as in 2011/12 when, as part of their outdoor summer season, Sport For Jove premiered the production they are set to remount.

"The last time we did this Shrew it was outdoors and we got shat on by the weather; we got rained out so much that we did a lot of it in a ballroom up in the Blue Mountains at this hotel at the Fairmount."

"It's so lovely to bring Shrew back — slightly terrifying, four years has gone past and you go, 'Ok, this was so warmly received, are we pushing our luck bringing it back?' But I don't think so. It's like going back to a love affair that was so wonderful at the time and then has only kind of grown in your memory of it; you go, ok, will the chemistry work? Are we going to put the band back together?"

With the admitted bias of a company regular Danielle King, who played Kate, the titular shrew in that first production, talks about Sport For Jove in tones of mythic reverence usually reserved for original tales of now famous bands. Her description of crowds schlepping to and through a stormy Leura or Bella Vista portray the act as a pilgrimage akin to hitching to Woodstock.

"The last time we did this Shrew it was outdoors and we got shat on by the weather; we got rained out so much that we did a lot of it in a ballroom up in the Blue Mountains at this hotel at the Fairmount, and that was great, and that's part of it. It's like being there for The Beatles before they became famous, those people that schlepped it out for four hours on the M4 in the rain, you go: 'Yeah, man!'

"The summer season needs to be robust, but staging the show indoors allows Kate to explore where her pain and the anger comes from, and just making the world more detailed in a theatre, we've got a bit more of a set."

The roles historically assigned to women was at the forefront of King's mind even before she reprised the role of Kate; nine months ago she gave birth to her first child, Baxter.

"There is a very real anxiety as somebody who stepped out of the industry for the year of pregnancy and then a newborn, of going, 'Wow, can I... when will I be ready to get back into a rehearsal room, will I get back into a rehearsal room, and what are the logistics for that?

"As a mum, coming back, the stars have aligned in a company I love and a show that I love. Because it could be a concern, as any mother coming back into the workforce... Things that may have come easier before your time and energy were split, you have to work harder at.

"I can't get into Kate's costume," King adds, "that's broken my heart. That's the shitty thing about returning, I can't get into the trousers."