The Taming of the Shrew presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Sidney Harman Hall

The Taming of the Shrew

Sidney Harman Hall
610 F Street NW Washington

One of the hot tickets of this upcoming theater season is sure to be Shakespeare Theatre Company's lively production of the classic battle of the sexes The Taming of the Shrew. Sparks will fly at Sidney Harman Hall when the "shrewish" Katherine locks horns with the opportunistic Petruchio, the only man in Padua willing to woo her. (Of course, Petruchio is working an angle: Kate's father has promised him a sizable dowry if he weds his daughter.) This fiery romantic comedy set the standards for centuries to come, and it remains one of the true classics of the genre.

Presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company

Thru - Jun 26, 2016

Price: $20-$118

Running Time: 3hrs, 15mins; one intermission

www.shakespearetheatre.org/plays/evt_detail.aspx?id=440&source=l

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The Taming of the Shrew Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Not Recommended

"...Director Ed Sylvanus Iskandar, new to the city’s leading classical company, has so much to say about Shakespeare’s comedy, an adventure in chauvinism that often perplexes and even infuriates modern audiences, that he ends up saying very little. Or maybe all of the elaborate distractions he adds are cover for the fact that he really doesn’t have much to contribute to a more universal understanding of Shakespeare’s exploration of how men treat women, and how women respond."

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- Peter Marks

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Shakespeare Theatre Company deserves our support for taking risks and continuing to experiment. Shakespeare is so vital to our culture that new interpretations are not just desirable, they are essential. To the director, cast, and creative team, I can truly say: Molto bene."

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- Sophia Howes

MetroWeekly - Somewhat Recommended

"...Looking at the production as a whole, there is something quite liberating in Iskandar's determined inconsistency: the men dress in costumes that combine shades of Elizabethan pomp, Mad Men mid-century, modern grunge, mock medieval and even '70s pimp. There are regular interludes of unashamed musical theater in the contemporary words and music of Duncan Sheik. There is a fluid fourth wall, disappearing when the actors run through the audience and when the audience is invited onto the stage during intermission. And yet when the Shakespeare is front and center, there is no lack of skill and intent."

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- Kate Wingfield

Talkin Broadway - Somewhat Recommended

"...A few of Iskandar's other tweaks are puzzling. Why has he turned Gremio (Andre De Shields), usually an aging but wealthy suitor of Bianca, into a cardinal? (So much else is happening that tossing in a bit of religious corruption and hypocrisy seems like piling on.) His inspiration of interpolating moody songs by Duncan Sheik may add depth to the characters, but it also slows down the action and adds noticeably to the running time. Quirkiest of all is the decision to turn the intermission into a 30-minute-long "Intermezzo" when audience members can buy drinks and hang out onstage while the characters illuminate the subtext in dance and flirtation. It's too much of a good thing that would have been better with less."

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- Susan Berlin

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...If one of the enduring interests in The Taming of the Shrew is the ambiguity and uncertainty of its intentions - its characters' motivations - this could well be a reason that Iskandar's production is of interest. His clear sense of his own intent and the text is not always as immanent as is the deliberate sense of spectacle in his lavish production. If it doesn't quite work in places, it does so with a text that Iskandar, and Literary Manager Drew Lichtenberg note is, itself, historically in need of "repair," and if it's not possible solve the difficulties a modern audience should have with The Taming of the Shrew, perhaps we have to continually reinvent it, in the knowledge that it will never quite feel comfortable enough. Like Kate, we submit, but must decide for ourselves on what terms we accept this resolve."

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- Chris Williams

DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended

"...This Taming of the Shrew isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. For one thing, it’s three hours long including that fantastic intermission; it’s even longer if you come for the preshow twenty minutes before the doors open. And you’ll want to know the play’s plot, for the joy of with Iskandar has done here is in what he has done with it, how he’s twisted and turned it and made it new. It’s a well-worn jacket worn inside out so that you can see the intricate lining. It will make you think about the nature of identity for a couple of days after. So if you want to just see a standard Kate and a standard Petrucio wooing her, this won’t be what you’d expect."

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- Jill Kyle-Keith

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The Taming of the Shrew presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Sidney Harman Hall