The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew is a surprisingly different domestic comedy of the troubles between men and women, children and parents, romance and marriage, truth and intrigue, appearance and reality, and who we really are. As the play begins, Katerina is physically and verbally abusive to all those around her; by the end of the play she has found her voice and has discovered how to work within the social rules most of us learned in childhood. This play is witty and exuberant and endlessly challenging-how do we feel about Katerina's situation? On stage it is can be performed in an enormous variety of interpretations, from brutal to joyous, but on close-reading the text, the brutal interpretations must be questioned. Let go of any preconceptions you have of this play, and have a close read and discussions with friends. And just who is the shrew, anyway?