I’ll admit it. I’m Shakespeare-challenged.

It’s not that I’m a rube. After all, I did study Shakespeare in college. I know — you can’t really appreciate it unless you see it performed well, but I’ve even seen the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts perform Shakespeare, and still had trouble understanding it. As for the comedies, I never get the jokes.

So it was with no small degree of trepidation that I agreed to go “behind the scenes” at the first off-book rehearsal (or “muddle-through” as director Clark Nicholson calls it) of the Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival’s upcoming production of The Taming of the Shrew in the Band Shell at Reservoir Park.

Before the rehearsal began, Clark was kind enough to give me a capsulated version of the plot (just in case I wouldn’t get it):

Contrary to what many believe, Clark is emphatic that this play is not mysoginistic. He notes Shakespeare based his work on an earlier, Punch-and-Judy-type play by an unknown author entitled The Taming of a Shrew.

“Shakespeare’s play was very different, because Petrucchio acts in reverent care of Kate,” Clark explains. “As he ‘tames’ her, he goes through his own kind of hell and nearly breaks, while Kate realizes he’s doing what he’s doing out of love for her. Ultimately, these are two strong-willed people who come to understand each other, and neither one vanquishes each other.”

Clark, who is the Shakespeare Festival’s artistic director, his wife, “Shrew” producer Melissa Nicholson, and scenographer Lynne Porter wanted a modern interpretation of a play that isn’t supposed to be real (the original Shakespearean version has a play within a play introduction that typically is cut), that is from another time period, and that is funny, but with a lot of truisms. The resulting collaborative effort is a 1950’s black-and-white television show in the style of I Love Lucy.

The set design is a variety of grayed television test patterns with just a few furniture pieces on the raked stage. Everything and everyone on stage will be in black, white, or shades of gray, including the 1950s style costumes, skin tones, and hair color.

“Every Shakespearean story is basic,” says Kelly King, who plays Petrucchio as a sort of Robert DeNiro-type hoodlum. “His plots are time-universal — they don’t die out — which is why you can stage them in any time period, in any location. Our version is a ’50s sitcom.”

As for memorizing Shakespeare’s lines, Kelly says it’s actually easy. “I find that when it’s up on its feet, it’s ultra-conversational and flows very easily. If you can get into the rhythm of speech, the lines come readily.”

Kate Magill, who plays the “cursed” Kate with energy and passion, is more challenged by movement than by lines. “This is the most violently physical role I’ve ever had.”

Chris Dickson, who humorously plays befuddled servant Biondello, agrees. “The hardest part is falling down all the time, and having to project in an outdoor setting. But as for learning Shakespeare, it’s like learning a song.”

I confessed my difficulty with Shakespeare to Clark, who assured me I’m not alone. He adds, “I’ve had people come to me and ask, ‘How do you re-write your dialogue?’ and I tell them I don’t. We just make sure the actors understand 100 percent what they’re saying, so they’ll be able to convey it to the audience. Our mission is to present quality, professional classical works that are innovative and accessible, and making them understandable is part of making them accessible.”

It works. Once the rehearsal begins, even with the half-finished set, without costumes or make-up, and with the occasional intrusions of outdoor theatre, the play is alive and vibrant (and the actors impressively off-book). The language and story are Shakespeare’s, but the acting style is anything but Elizabethan. Clark Nicholson and his cast clearly understand what’s happening, and because of that, so do I. I even get some of the jokes!