The Taming of the Shrew
William Shakespeare
The Taming of the Shrew
Charismatic and brash Petruchio of Verona is seeking his fortune through his abilities to gain the hand in marriage of a rich woman, and he'll do anything. Katharina and Bianca's father, longing for his daughters to be married, is offering a generous dowry for his daughters' hand, but not until Katharina is tamed and her wild and unruly ways put to bed. Will the flamboyant Petruchio succeed in taming Katharina to a submissive life of domesticity?
3.7 out of 5 based on 10 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Location |
Stratford Upon Avon |
| Venue |
RST |
| Director |
Lucy Bailey |
| Cast |
David Caves, Lisa Dillon, Gavin Fowler, Huss Garbiya, Simon Gregor, Kieran Knowles, John Marquez, David Rintoul, Sam Swainsbury Elizabeth Cadwallader |
| From |
January 2012 |
| Until |
February 2012 |
| Box Office |
0844 800 1110 |
| |
Charismatic and brash Petruchio of Verona is seeking his fortune through his abilities to gain the hand in marriage of a rich woman, and he'll do anything. Katharina and Bianca's father, longing for his daughters to be married, is offering a generous dowry for his daughters' hand, but not until Katharina is tamed and her wild and unruly ways put to bed. Will the flamboyant Petruchio succeed in taming Katharina to a submissive life of domesticity?
Reviews
The Daily Telegraph
Charles Spencer
"There is far more fun, detail and invention in the portrayal of the usually one–dimensional supporting characters than is usually the case and one reels out of this production of Shakespeare's most contentious comedy in a state of giddy happiness."
27/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Times
Libby Purves
"Under the direction of that mistress of vivid lowlife, Lucy Bailey, Shakespeare’s trickiest number is a wild night out ... [She] takes the ramshackle thing by the scruff of its neck, gives it a bracing shake and makes it entertaining, convincing, and brow-moppingly sexy."
27/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Financial Times
Ian Shuttleworh
"This can still be a more or less straightforward romantic comedy.
"
29/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Observer
Susannah Clapp
"This is the first time I have been able to enjoy Shakespeare's most scantily written drama. Rarely can it have been so dynamic and rarely so feral. On the one hand, the shrew; on the other Nick Holder's lumbering, hog-like Christopher Sly, who when set on by roisterers looks like a part of some yet larger grunting monster. On all sides, people tumbling into bed.
"
29/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Sunday Times
Jane Edwardes
"Even the usually tedious wooing of Bianca is fun, with Gavin Fowler’s Lucentio and John Marquez’s mafioso-like Tranio performing a fine double act."
05/02/2012
Read Full Review
The Daily Mail
Quentin Letts
"Some deplore the misogyny in the Shrew ... Yet Lucy Bailey’s production is so energetic, perhaps exhaustingly so, that such high-minded concerns never have a chance until the final ten minutes, when things darken a little."
27/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Stage
Michael Coveney
"The best RSC version for ages, liberates the characters into bedtime bedlam and battiness."
26/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Evening Standard
Fiona Mountford
"Director Lucy Bailey angles the whole thing as five acts of foreplay to, as she describes it, "the best sex ever"."
26/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Guardian
Michael Billington
"Vigorous, lively and inventive, but it never touches the heart or makes you care deeply about the people."
26/01/2012
Read Full Review
The Daily Express
Neil Norman
"All the rolling, tumbling, farting and shouting leave little room for subtlety. When the most telling scene is not the brutal seduction between Petruchio and Kate but the bidding war over Kate’s younger sister Bianca you know there’s a problem."
27/01/2012
Read Full Review