The Taming of the Shrew
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Bruce De Les Dernier
This popular comedy by Shakespeare is considered one of the
funniest, and possibly one of the most controversial, of his plays; for in
Shakespeare's day, a woman's role is hardy liberated. Nevertheless, the character
of Kate is one of Shakespeare's strongest female characters and has a voice of her
own despite the period of history she derives from. It also boasts numerous comic
leads ranging from witty servants to foolish suitors. The plot revolves around
Petruchio wooing the sharp-tongued, elder daughter, Kate, to the delight of the father,
who can then marry off his more agreeable (or so it is thought) daughter to a rich
husband. The play is rife with disguises, mistaken identities, and servants that
are often wiser than their masters. All ends happily, and it is for you to judge
whether Kate or Petruchio is the winner in their match of wits and love.
Historical Note:
The exact date of the first production of The Taming of the Shrew is uncertain.
It is thought to be derived from an older play of the same name by an unknown author.
Some have also suggested that Shakespeare may have collaborated with Christopher Marlowe
on the reworking of the older play, possibly in 1597 or later. The language, however,
is all Shakespeare, and the play displays
his well-developed flair for comedy. A portion
of the play rarely performed nowadays in the Induction: A nobleman, with a penchant for
practical jokes, finds a drunken tinker and convinces him that he is really a knight
who has been mad for many years. In order to make him merry, he has a company of players
perform The Taming of the Shrew for him. This "play within a play"
feature is used by Shakespeare in several of his writings, Hamlet and
A Midsummer Night's Dream being the other notable examples.
The Taming of the Shrew also owes some of its heritage to some notable Italian
stories of shrewish wives, as well as suitors wearing disguises to win the hand of
a merchant's daughter. It's also one of the few plays by Shakespeare whose characters
are middle class: Baptista, the father of Kate and Bianca, is a rich merchant, rather
than a Duke. This reflects the popularity of the Italian trading houses in England at
the time; for next to England and its rival Spain, Italy was still a center of
commerce with its great port cities of Venice, Genoa, and Naples.