This classic battle of the sexes will delight the entire family. Bianca has several suitors but Kate has only Petruchio who finds that he must first tame his bride before he can live in wedded bliss.

Victoria Mature as Kate & Pete Shaner as Petruchio
photo by Brian Terry

Shakespeare presents a farcical look at wealthy Renaissance Paduan society, a patriarchy which trades its daughters for financial gain. Immortalized in film by husband and wife duo Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, this comedy presents a battle of the sexes that is settled only when couples decide on peace rather than war in marriage.

Baptista, a rich Paduan merchant has two daughters - the playful, lovable Bianca and razor-tongued Katharina. And though Bianca has several suitors (Lucentio, a visitor to Padua; Hortensio, Petruchio's friend; and Gremio, a wealthy neighbor), Bianca may not marry until the elder sister Kate has found a husband.

When the boorish Petruchio announces his willingness to marry any woman with a large enough dowry, Bianca's dilemma seems to be solved. Bianca's suitors Hortensio and Lucentio decide to don disguises as her private tutors to win her love.

But is it possible that Petruchio has met his match in the wild Kate? They lead the battle of the sexes in this boisterous farce and the result is a noisy, politically incorrect, irresistibly funny romp!

Why A Minimum Translation Text Of Shakespeare?
“Clearness is the most important matter in the use of words.” Quintilian

It is my firmly held belief that the sense of Shakespeare’s words must be predominant over sound. We are not going to a symphony but to a play. A play consists of words, and words convey meaning. Arthur Miller enunciated a maxim that we applaud, “Theater is the art of the present tense par excellence.” If we must retire to our study after a Shakespearean play to peruse fifty notes to the page in order to understand the meaning, we are missing the true beauty and immediacy of the theatrical experience. Shakespeare’s language is over 400 years old. There was no dictionary or book of English grammar in his time. Many words used by him are now archaic or obsolete; also many of the same words used today conveyed different meanings to the Elizabethan audience.

It is ironic that Shakespeare’s works have been translated into more than 79 foreign languages all in the modern idiom. Must we consult the man in the street in Russia in order to truly appreciate the meaning of Shakespeare? Numerous archaic and obsolete words have been changed to modern equivalents. The play has been edited in order to produce a two-hour show since research by E. K. Chambers and Alfred Harbage indicate that would have been the playing time in Shakespeare’s own theatre. For example, in Hamlet, phrases such as “bissom rheum” have become “blinding tears” and “who would fardels bear to grunt and sweat under a weary life” is a metaphor that alludes to the peasants who became stooped and bent from carrying heavy bundles of sticks called fardels. By changing “fardels” to “burdens”, the metaphor becomes understandable to the modern audience. In Romeo and Juliet, "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" means "Why are you Romeo?" Friar Lawrence has the line "O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies In herbs . . . " Mickle is an archaic word that means "a large or great amount." By changing the line to "O, great is the powerful grace that lies in herbs ..." the line is immediately understandable.

We have tried to keep the staging as simple as it was in Shakespeare’s time. The plays were presented on a bare stage 43’ wide and 27 1/2’ deep with a background facade of usable exits and entrances with minimum portable set pieces and props brought on and off the stage.

The soliloquy is a speech that an actor directs to the audience to speak his thoughts aloud, usually when the actor is alone on the stage. If others are on the stage, they do not hear it. An aside is a short comment directed to the audience that the other characters do not hear.

Tickets for this show are free. To get tickets in advance, mail a written request to the Playhouse with:

It is important that you include your email address and phone number as someone will contact you if the tickets are gone for the dates requested.  If we only have your mailing address, it takes much longer to contact you and therefore delays your receipt of any tickets.

There will be pre-show music activities we we will start seating people at 7:15. 

Plan to arrive by 7:45 pm.   Those without tickets will be seated at 7:50 PM on a first come-first seated basis as space permits.

Playhouse members (with annual dues currently paid) and season ticket holders can get reserve seats by phone or email.