Somewhere out on the vast prairie, two strangers ride into a frontier boomtown.  One spits a thick stream of tobacco juice into the sagebrush.  "For the great desire I had to see fair Padua," he drawls, "I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy, the pleasant garden of great Italy."  Hey, now, wait just a cornpone minute!  What the hell kinda spaghetti Western hogwash is this?

Easy there, pardners, don't get your chaps in a bunch.  It's just Harlequin Productions having some fun with Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew by transporting it to the cinematic West, complete with singing cowboys.  I'm on record as being unsold on the need to pull the Bard out of his chosen settings, but I think director Scot Whitney may be onto something here.  "It occurred to me some time ago that there were many epithets and other turns of phase in Shrew that sounded like a Western:  ‘He'll rail in his rope tricks.'  ‘Draw forth thy weapon, Grumio.  We are beset with thieves.'"  I asked Whitney whether the new locale helped with what many consider a dated sexist turn in the final act.  He thinks Shrew is about "people looking for love in bizarre, selfish ways. ... They fall in love instantly, but Kate can't admit she's in love.  Ultimately they become a real team.  Both learn their pride is not the bottom line."

Whitney cast the show with willful disregard for ethnicity.  The very Caucasian Rod Campbell, for instance, plays "the Hollywood-style ‘token Indian.'... Not that we're trying to offend anyone, but trust me, the political incorrectness doesn't end there.  Then again, Shrew has never been politically correct.  We hope to break new ground in that regard."  Other familiar faces include Russ Holm as a swaggering Gremio, Amy Hill (End Days) is the insufferably lovable Bianca, Jason Haws plays a salty Grumio, Ian McNeely is a yodeling Petruchio and Melanie Moser is brilliantly cast as the titular spitfire.  Whitney says his biggest influences are "Roy Rogers, Cat Ballou and A Fistful of Dollars."  Sold!

Best of all, Harlequin presents the play FREE Oct. 21 as part of Arts Crush's Live Theatre Week.  Those seats will go quicker'n green grass through a goose, as will the "Date Night" performance Oct. 8, at which two domestic pardners get in for the price of one.  With a deal like that, you can afford to fill yer bellies with some tasty barbecue grub.  (Can you tell I've been mainlining Brisco County Jr.?)  Ramblin Jack's has its devotees, as does South Bay Dickerson - but if you have time, check out Smoking Mo's in Union, which not only beats the others on price but, more often than not, gives me dinner for free ... courtesy of my sister who runs it.  Your mileage may vary.  Whitney is a fan of both Oly eateries mentioned above.

When I asked him what to do after the show, he answered immediately:  "Tequila at QB." 

Well, if that don't cap the climax!

The Taming of the Shrew

Oct. 7-30, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2:00 p.m. Sunday, normally $26-$32
Harlequin Productions, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia
360.786.0151