When Sean Grennan, as a carefree Petruchio, makes his entrance wandering through the lawn audience and asking the way to Padua, you get the idea, right away, that this outdoor presentation of "The Taming of the Shrew" is going to have a few happy surprises

Sure enough, First Folio Shakespeare Festival’s production of the comedy is an inventive, fun and finally moving telling of this classic tale of the battle of the sexes.

Now in its third season of summer shows, First Folio is in many respects still an elementary operation. Its wooden platform stage, facing the sloping green of the Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, shows the effects of a tight budget in its serviceable but basic scenery, lighting and costumes; and some of its actors are just north of being amateurs.

But director Alison C. Vesely, the festival founder and the director of all its productions so far, has a vision of this play that is strong and smart. It never neglects the laughs, but it also puts a welcome emotional emphasis on the comedy’s love story.

Grennan’s buoyant Petruchio and Kathy Santen’s smart, albeit shrewish, Kate shape their lines and their actions so that the roughhouse comedy turns into a tender romance, in which the battling lovers eventually become co-equals and collaborators in their marriage.

Together, Grennan and Santen (married in real life) make a terrific team. He delivers his physical comedy and line readings with insouciant ease, getting unexpected big laughs out of even such an ordinary word as "father"; and she endows Kate, headstrong though she may be, with remarkable sweetness and sensitivity. (One of these days, they should have a go at "Kiss Me, Kate," the Cole Porter musical based on "Shrew.")

One example of the production’s intelligence is the way it unspools that touchy final scene, beginning with Kate’s submissive speech, "I am ashamed that women are so simple..." Those are hard words to swallow in the post-feminist age of the 90’s; but Santen treats them as a blithe lecture that Kate enjoys and has carefully rehearsed, winking at Petruchio with pleasure as she revels in the gentle scolding she is giving to obstinate brides.

For his part, Grennan’s Petruchio sits back in awe and respect as he hears her speech. His response to her words, "Why there’s a wench! Come on, and kiss me Kate," often played as a cry of macho triumph, in this version is treated as an adoring husband’s soft, passionate salute to his mate. And the kiss that caps the line is a long, lingering emblem of marital devotion.

The Petruchio/Kate scenes are the show’s highlights, but there are other rewards, as well, including Niki Sarich’s spoiled brat younger sister Bianca; Brad Light’s doddering suitor Gremio, and Sean Fortunato’s Tranio, a servant trying vainly to adopt the posture of a gentleman when he poses as his master.

As with most "Shrew" productions, this one eliminates the two-scene "Induction" that awkwardly sets the stage for the comedy. This, and a brisk pace that speeds through the monumentally unfunny Elizabethan wordplay, keep the show at about 2 1/2 hours, beyond which time no outdoor Shakespearean presentation should go.

As usual in this lawn party atmosphere, many theatre customers are also picnicgoers, bringing along food hampers and candles as part of the experience.

The festival also stocks bug repellents at its small refreshment stand, although "mosquito abatement" provided by Clarke Environmental, given a thank you note in the program, appears to have cut down considerably on insect pests.

In its program, the theater also formally thanks O’Hare Air Traffic Control for "agreeing to route air traffic around our site as circumstances allow." The agreement looks like its working. On opening night, there was barely a buzz from overhead planes.

Along with a large nearby parking lot and well-lighted portable toilets, these are conveniences that help make outdoor Shakespeare endurable.

Best of all, however, is the sense of discovery in the production itself. There have been and will be more elaborate and better versions of "The Taming of the Shrew," but First Folio’s spunky outing has the real thing, a sense of humor and a generous heart.

Most theater companies balk at producing Shakespeare’s "The Taming of the Shrew," a comedy that seems to celebrate misogyny. So First Folio Shakespeare Festival is quite brave to tackle this play, as we near the end of the 20th Century.

Director Alison C. Vesely, whose three-year-old company has become a welcome summer tradition, wisely explores the story’s dark dimensions without sacrificing its bawdy humor.

Despite this balanced approach, it remains tough to fathom how a woman could love a brutish man who "tames" her by carting her of and denying her food and sleep. But First Folio’s handsome staging and non-cliche acting redeem this sexist battle of wills.

As the play opens, the young Renaissance nobleman Lucentio arrives to pursue his studies in Padua. Once he spies the beautiful Bianca, daughter of the wealthy merchant Baptista Minola, he devises a scheme in which he trades places with his servant Tranio and disguises himself as a Latin tutor to gain access to Bianca. Meanwhile, Bianca is pursued by two other suitors, the well-to-do Hortensio and the elderly merchant Gremio. According to Baptista’s terms, however, Bianca cannot wed until her older sister, the out-spoken Kate, is married. Gremio and Hortensio so vigorously seek a husband for this woman "renowned in Padua for her scolding tongue." They persuade the rough-mannered Petruchio, newly arrived to find a rich wife, to woo Kate. The colorful pair soon have it out in one of Shakespeare’s most contentious courtship scenes.

Then, against her will, Kate is betrothed to Petruchio, who drags her away kicking and screaming from their own wedding. Besides starving her, he plays vicious mind games with his headstrong wife, whose rage stems from men’s view of women as property. In the end, she submits to Petruchio and delivers a cringe-inducing speech about a woman’s duty to her husband in the midst of Bianca and Lucentio’s wedding feast. Considering Shakespeare’s overall sensitive treatment of female characters in his plays, he most likely used Kate as a device to illustrate women’s limited choices then and, to some degree, place her on equal footing with Petruchio.

First Folio’s production sensibly veers toward the equality issue. Although the rhythm waxes and wanes, this "Shrew" features playful, sophisticated performances. The real husband-and-wife team of Kathy Santen and Sean Grennan lends lends a tender, knowing air of compassion to the rowdy, ranting Kate and Petruchio. Instead of entering onstage, Grennan cuts through the picnicking crowds and samples their vittles before launching into the smirking bombast his role demands. Santen’s Kate is no mere tantrum-throwing wench. Her transformation becomes a seamless process in which her anger may be drained in the end, but her strength remains intact.

Other delightful performances include Christian Gray’s sweetly measured Lucentio and Sean Fortunato’s clumsily self-enamored Tranio. In an uproarious turn, Brad Light is a witty and wiry Gremio.

Also, outstanding are Christopher Jensen’s burnished Italianate set and Kim Fencl-Rak’s gorgeous costumes.

Alison C. Vesely’s staging is as sensitive and focused as this difficult play deserves, overcoming the supposed sexism of Shakespeare’s comedy by establishing from the start the leveling passion between shrewish Kate and piggish Petruchio. Independent to a fault and desperate to find a mate worthy of her, Kathy Santen’s spitfire Kate only wants the right excuse to surrender to Sean Grennan’s equally ferocious, more caring than cruel Petruchio. (Real-life partners, the actors make the timing of their fights and the feeling behind of their embraces utterly convincing.

The one drawback to Kate’s early capitulation is that Petruchio’s machinations seem redundant, mere conditioning to ensure his total success; of that triumph there’s no doubt given the sincerity of Santen’s final praise of wifely obedience. It’s equally clear in this production that the prerequisite for that submission is unconditional love, Kate and Petruchio’s great common ground.