Irene Poole exemplifies what it means to be a working mom writ large. Five weeks after her son Silas was born, Irene began rehearsing for the role of Katherine in Taming Of The Shrew at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Of Canada...

Wrote By: Ashley Hunking (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada)

June 2008 

Irene Poole exemplifies what it means to be a working mom writ large. Five weeks after her son Silas was born, Irene began rehearsing for the role of Katherine in Taming of the Shrew at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Irene says the preparation process for the role of Katherine was different than previous roles. In an odd illustration of life imitating art, Irene's determination, adaptation and acceptance of personal circumstances parallels and inversely reflects her stage character, "the irrepressible Kate." As a new mother, Irene anticipated both the inevitable sleep deprivation and constant lack of time. She committed additional time to line memorization and character study while stealing any extra moments to supply milk to her husband, Tim Campbell, for their newborn. One can only imagine the focus and delicate balancing this tribeca of roles (ie. professional actress, mother, and wife) requires in the face of post delivery/pre production challenges.

In Taming of the Shrew, Katherine is a woman known for her scolding tongue. Irene comments that the source of "Kate's anger [results from] the society that she lives in...her father's power to marry Bianca (Kate's sister) and herself. Marriage was a matter of commerce and the highest bidder was in a position to buy a wife. Kate is a highly intelligent woman and she meets her match when she encounters Petruchio. He shows her how she cannot continue being as she is." There has been much controversy around the theme of Kate's submission to Petruchio, and some critics argue the Elizabethan patriarchal power structure no longer reflects modern life. However, Irene feels that Shakespeare says something much deeper than what is seen at face value. Irene says, "the most challenging aspect of playing Kate is to lead the audience along her journey." In order for the audience to understand who Kate becomes at the end of the play, Irene must convey her motivations. Irene notes, "I must bring the audience through all of the moments...from Kate being an angry mal-content woman to the person she becomes." For Irene, it is clear that Kate and Petruchio love each other. She says, "any marriage has a great deal of negotiation and sacrifice." In agreement, I would add that the modern critical focus on the patriarchal context does not do justice to Kate's intelligence and as such is sexism in modern clothes, making Shrew as pertinent as ever it was.

Even though Irene believes that The Taming of the Shrew comments on something deeper than the battle of the sexes, she doesn't want to belittle the fact that women were undoubtedly treated as inferior to men. She says, "But not to downplay how difficult it was for women during this time period...women were subjected to torturous games." In this production, the acclaimed director, Peter Hinton, experiments with a cucking stool (dunking chair) in the opening sequence where a women is dunked into water while strapped to a chair. A cucking stool was used in Elizabethan England as female punishment for "attitude." Irene feels women have far more power in their own lives today, however there still are societies that treat marriage as a business exchange.

As well as Taming of the Shrew, Irene also plays Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet. Irene feels that the two characters, while both are women, are distinct from each other. Montague is a mother and in fact this is the first role in which Irene has played a mother since she had her own baby. She finds the maternal role satisfying. In this version of Romeo and Juliet, Lady Montague is ill. In contrast, Katherine is high energy and engaged. The stage presence of Lady Montague is less time intensive and allows Irene down-time, which can include an enjoyable occasional cribbage game with her colleague, Evan Buliung, who plays Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew.

I asked Irene how much of her performance is her own thoughts, feelings and opinions and how much is Kate's. She replied, "Kate is a lot of me and I am a lot of Kate." In this performance, Peter Hinton scripted Kate as disabled with a limp. Ultimately, Irene's performance is a studied mixture of who Irene is, what Peter Hinton envisions and Shakespeare's genius.

Advice for a Young Actor:

Irene Poole always knew she was going to be an actor. Well before the age of ten she was writing plays and taking part in the local drama club. Growing up in an isolated town, Irene learned to occupy herself with drama. It wasn't until University that Irene began to experience the influence of her teachers and developed an understanding of what it means to be a professional actor in this country.

I wanted to know how Irene prepares for any individual performance. She says, "warming up for a performance looks different with every production." For Taming of the Shrew, there is a vocal warm-up. She says, "We may use songs from the play." Poole also includes a physical warm-up because the limp she is required to perform can be strenuous.

When I asked Irene how she measures growth as an actor she said, "The more confident I feel, the more clarity I have. People around you can be a valuable source of information, but you don't want to rely on that entirely." Tim, also an actor, offers Poole an invaluable source of thought and reflection; understandably, she does not engage critically for the duration of her performances.

Poole is an avid reader and has many favorite books, a few of which include Blindness, Disgraced and Shipping News. For books about acting, she enjoys David Mamet and finds Jon Barton's tapes on Shakespeare invaluable.

Her advice to aspiring actors is: "Persevere, take chances and do as much work as you can... surround yourself by people who share your passion...this will give you other perspectives and networks." She says that it is inspiring to be around others who are inspired. I will conclude by saying I am inspired by having had the privilege of a conversation with Irene Poole.

Read the A 'n' E Vibe Taming of The Shrew Review