Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe)

Tom Anderson (Curtis); David Beames (Vincentio/Tailor); Jamie Beamish (Tranio); Michael Bertenshaw (Gremio); Simon Paisley Day (Petruchio); Samantha Spiro (Katherina); Sarah MacRae (Bianca); Rick Warden (Hortensio); Pip Donaghy (Baptisa Minola); Patrick Driver (Pedant); Tom Godwin (Biondello); Christopher Keegan (Nathaniel/Servant);

The Taming of the Shrew tells the tale of the sharp-tongued Kate, who must marry before her younger sister, Bianca, is allowed to find a suitor. Undaunted by her waspish reputation, Petruccio attempts to woo the not-so-fair maiden, but is faced with a tirade of poisonous insults. Samantha Spiro stars as cantankerous Kate, capable of knocking a grown man down with her fist. With a stellar supporting cast, the production is a triumph, thanks to its ‘riotous mixture of verbal dexterity and slapstick’ (The Daily Telegraph).

Reviews

"This is a crowd-pleasing production ... and the laughs come thick and fast" (The Evening Standard)

"Toby Frow balances the play’s startling cruelty with exuberant comic energy ... This intelligent and energetic production finds the tenderness in the text, and sends its audience home amused, exhilarated, but also disturbed — which is as it should be." (The Telegraph)