Fal-net > Taming Shakespeare / Original Pitch

Glen first started working on this concept many years ago, eventually realizing he had to solicit help from Mike to bring the idea to fruition. After briefly talking with Mike, Glen typed up a document to flesh out the idea a bit, still referring to it as a “play,” assuming it would be created for the stage.

*Pitch:*	Shakespeare in Love meets The Taming of the Shrew, crossed with a bit of The Producers, set in the present. A play within a play also occurs.
*Concept:*	In October of 1989, the foundation of Shakespeare’s original Globe Theatre is discovered in Southwark, England, and excavation is begun. Only five percent of the foundation is accessible, however. The rest sits under Anchor Terrace, a 19th Century listed building (historical landmark). Anchor Terrace has a concrete slab beneath it, but architects make use of radar to confirm the location of the Globe’s foundation. Buried in the foundation is a sequel to Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, waiting to be found.
*Outline:*	Our hero is an American (student? archeologist?) living in Southwark during the Globe excavation. When our play takes place, he has since returned to America, carrying with him a heretofore-unknown play by William Shakespeare, recovered from the foundations of the Globe itself. It is a sequel to The Taming of the Shrew. At the start of our play, he has managed to produce the sequel himself, on Broadway. It is opening night, but after a brief introduction, most of our story takes place in flashback. It is quickly revealed to the audience that the Shrew sequel is a fake. Our hero has hired a writer, fresh out of college. She loves the plan and starts off completely on board, agreeing with his every word. He generally treats her like crap, making unreasonable demands to which she quickly complies, but he is slowly falling for her. As the Shrew sequel is being written, our hero begins work on getting it produced, auditioning actors, etc. Meanwhile, a reporter becomes determined to expose the sequel for the falsehood that it is. He disguises himself as one of the auditioning actors to get closer to the production. It turns out he is quite good and lands the part of Lucentio. During rehearsals, he meets the writer (who has been cast as a supernumerary), and falls in love at first sight. Rehearsals continue and the plot of the Shrew sequel slowly comes to light (as it is still being written). Petruchio has continued to treat Katharina like his property, but Katharina begins to return to having a mind of her own. She does not revert to the single-minded shrew, but she asserts herself enough to leave Petruchio behind. She becomes desired, rather than rebuked, for her strength of will. The plot-in-present parallels, as the writer starts to disagree with our hero’s interfering suggestions. The Shrew sequel is eventually revealed as a fraud to the public, though not by the reporter. He has gotten too involved with the show—and its writer—to stop it from going forward. Our hero’s love for the writer is rebuked, but it matters little: His show, despite being fraudulent, is a grand success. And all he was really after was the applause. The end of our play should bookend the beginning of The Taming of the Shrew. It turns out this was merely a performance for one Christopher Sly (making the Shrew sequel a play within a play within a play). He was a drunkard passed out in an alehouse. A trick was played on him to convince him he was a lord. A play was put before him (the original Shrew), but Shakespeare never bookends this opening.
*Setting:*	A theatre.
*Chars.:*	Our hero, an American “entrepreneur” The writer, a female scholar in her 20’s A reporter, an intrepid male around 30 Christopher Sly, a tinker A lord Others.