The central roles in "The Taming of the Shrew" work because Elizabeth Wolfe as Kate and Mark Gilbert as Petruchio can handle the language and because director Linda Johnson stages their battling characters as victims of love at first sight.

Not only are they obviously attracted to each other in their first scene — despite the bickering — they positively smolder.

The first play in this summer's Shakespeare Festival (followed in succeeding weeks by "King John" and "Titus Andronicus"), on stage through Sunday, also benefits from intimate thrust staging in the 72-seat space at The ARTS at Marks Garage. With no seat farther than 10 feet from the stage, voices and expressions carry easily to the audience.

Both Wolfe and Gilbert respond well to the space, letting a furrowed brow and a sly glance convey the emotion of these "big" roles in a way that would be lost in a larger theater. They also modulate their delivery — going pie-eyed, love-struck almost immediately and remembering to verbally spar out of habit.

Gilbert, in fact, delivers Petruchio's intent to "cure her of her headstrong humor" as a tender meditation in a solo spotlight.

But the characters are also loud and tough when they need to be. Petruchio manhandles Kate in all the right places, but — somehow — their kisses seem to be more tender. Ultimately, the theme is not the subjugation of women, but finding a rewarding balance in the traditional male/female relationship.

Unfortunately, most of the supporting roles don't measure up, suffering from youth, inexperience, and casting against gender.

While Jim Hesse is always a delight as the fussy suitor Gremio and Ace Bumatai has some genuinely successful understated moments as Petruchio's servant Grumio, other performances range from valiant tries to downright annoying.

Casting three heavily male Shakespearian plays simultaneously almost necessitates placing women in men's roles. And while women have been successful as tough-guys Mercutio and Tybalt in earlier productions, replacing Kate's father in "Shrew" is less successful.

This production has Kate's mother trying to pawn her off to any suitor foolish enough to step up to the plate. The gender switch undercuts the central issue of women's subjugation to their fathers and husbands and promotes distracting rationalization that their only real power lays in widowhood.

While other gender switches are less damaging, they fail to add interest and are cognitively disruptive by requiring us to consciously overlook them.

But we can't overlook Bianca, who is not only spoiled and whining in this interpretation, but is also manipulative and something of a slut.

The abundance of female characters and a modern costume plot mean that there are plenty of stunning female power suits and the opportunity to indulge in a mild foot fetish of high-heeled sandals and gleaming pedicures.

"The Taming of the Shrew" runs a crisp, tight two hours with musical cuts that add to its contemporary flair.