To be seen this week doing the same thing in their different ways are, on the one hand, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Bolton and, on the other, Walmsley Operatic Society.
Going on from where Shakespeare stopped is what they are doing. "The Taming of the Shrew" is in each case the starting point.
But Walmsley, in the American musical "Kiss Me Kate", are committed to travelling beyond and around the original to a greater degree. They have to extend and complicate the plot itself.
The chief interest is the reunion of a divorced couple, who are playing Petruchio and Katherina in a Baltimore production of the old comedy.
The off-stage lives of other members of the company come a good second and fragments of actual scenes from "The Taming" a rather poor third.
Under J. Arnold Thornton's musical direction and Derek Taylor's production, it all comes over very brightly, helped by effective settings and costumes. Some of the latter are from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the rest are by the society's own Jean McMichael.
And there is lively and well co-ordinated dancing evolved by Mary Unsworth - though perhaps the pavan is a shade too lively for its name.
In what must be regarded as the two leading parts, Alec Greaves and Jean Unsworth certainly lead, but are closely followed by a really good field, including Susan Briggs, who is Lois Lane when not Bianca.
Singing is better than most of the songs. Jean Unsworth gives the strikingly phrased "I Hate Men" good value, but the hit seems to be "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" sung by Ernest Pollitt and Alan Lee as the two gangsters who disguised themselves as extras.
