"Shakespeare's funny?" Yes, apparently so, according to English teacher Ken Dearinger who reports on a recent excursion: "If you have only read the tragedies, and not read them closely, you might think that Shakespeare's plays are just about suffering and death in the fifth act. Forty upper and middle school boys from my classes discovered on April 19, and on Forty-second Street, that Shakespeare's comedies can be very funny indeed. They attended the Theatre for a New Audience's production of "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Duke Theatre and laughed for two-and-a-half hours."

Mr. Dearinger added, "Arin Arbus's production was set at a farcical pace in the Wild West, all to the accompaniment of a saloon piano. Shakespeare's unflappable 'Christopher Sly' sat across the aisle from Christopher Haack (Form IV) and heckled the players of the play within the play. Petruchio and Katherine battled it out to great laughs and slyly negotiated their troubled partnership. The play's darker side, the attempt to subjugate women to the power of men, found ground for a satisfying, modern and deeply moving truce. Special thanks to Ms. Suarez, Mr. Young and Mr. Katz for attending and smiling broadly with the rest of the Browning contingent. The blue blazers were at their best."