MARIETTA – “The Taming of the Shrew,” written by William Shakespeare, was performed Saturday night in an open air atmosphere in Muskingum Park in Marietta along the river.

The Third Annual Shakespeare by the River production opened over the weekend and will also be performed July 7-10, with all shows beginning at 8:30 p.m.

The program is free and open to the public. The play is presented by Hipp Stage Productions and the Marietta College Theatre Department with a cast of 18 local, professional and pre-professional actors.

Shakespeare by the River is a joint effort of MC and the Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association and the City of Marietta. The production is also made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Artsbridge and Paskawych Entertainment.

“The Taming of the Shrew” was one of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies. The basic plot has Baptista, a rich merchant, announcing that his fair young daughter, Bianca, will remain unmarried until her ill-tempered older sister, Kate (the shrew) has wed. Lucentio and other suitors vie for Bianca. Meanwhile, Petruchio, a fortune-hunting scoundrel tries to tame the older sister Kate so he can capture a wealthy wife. One difference from the original play is that this production has the setting in the 19th-century American West rather then 16th century Italy.

The director for the play is Andy Felt, an Associate Professor at MC who is now in his seventh year.

“I think this play has turned out really well,” Felt said. “I love doing this and that there are community members involved and performing this Shakespearean story for their own community. Shakespeare by the River just keeps getting bigger and better every year and the community has been really supportive of it,” he said.

“This is our third season,” said Kevin Mayhood-Paskawych, assistant director and castmember playing Vincentio in the play.

“This show is very funny,” he said. “We do a lot of slapstick and high comedy which makes it really fun to watch.”

Geoff Coward plays Baptista Minola, father of Kate (the shrew) and her younger sister Bianca. He is also the Artistic Director for Hipp Stage Productions, part of Peoples Bank Theatre. Coward said it is important that community performances are integral to what they do with Hipp Stage Productions, which helps showcase local talent. Shakespeare by the River is one such production.

“I have enjoyed working every second of this,” said MC student Morgan Thompson, 19, of Woodsfield, who also serves as stage manager and assistant costume designer. “It’s cool to see how everything has come together with the actors who have come from Ohio University, WVU, Marietta College as well as local talent.”

The role of Petruchio, suitor and tamer of the shrew, is being played by Thomas Daniels, 25, who now lives in New York. He is a MC graduate who received his MFA in acting from OU.

“I’ve been having a ton of fun with this play,” said Daniels. “My first goal as an actor in this powerful Shakespearean play is to make it clear. Secondly, I want to have fun and to make this as funny as possible and I think we’ve achieved that.”

“It’s rewarding, but it’s also difficult. It’s a hard role to play,” said Lisa Buch, 29, who plays the role of Kate the shrew.

Buch is in the MFA acting program at OU. She said it is a humorous play but it has some serious situations in scenes that make it challenging to come across as funny in today’s world.

“I am pumped to be able to play this young, funny little lover character,” said Woody Pond, 21, who plays the part of Lucentio who is in love with Bianca, the youngest daughter.

Pond, of Morgantown will be a senior this fall at WVU in the studio program.

“The other actors that I get to perform with on stage are so easy to work with and are so much fun, it’s awesome,” he said.

Alex Amery, 29, of Charlotte and also in the OU MFA acting program, plays Gremio, another suitor to Bianca.

“I’m enjoying doing this play,” he said. “It’s a pleasure working for Andy who’s a legend at OU.”

“I think it was professionally done,” said audience-member Chris Sidote, of Amesville, regarding Saturday’s performance. “It was a little different how they mixed Shakespeare with a western theme. It was very well orchestrated.”

“I came to Shakespeare by the River last year,” said Marietta resident Jane Jones, adding “It’s kind of nice with a western setting rather than Italy. They have really good actors and it’s nice to have something like this in Marietta.”