the taming of the shrew

If I be waspish, best beware my sting

synopsis

Get ready to witness Shakespeare’s infamous battle of the sexes in a bold 70-minute production packed with grand Elizabethan costumes, devilish jokes and fresh twists. In this reimagined 1594, it is a matriarchal world where the women do the taming. This is Shrew like you’ve never seen it before.

In the plush and pompous town of Padua, suitors are lining up for a chance to woo the charming Bianca. But there’s a catch: Bianca can’t marry until Katherina is wed first. Unfortunately, Katherina isn’t exactly marriage material. Hot-headed and anti-social, no one will go near them. But when the cunning Petruchio takes on the shrew, their unconventional courtship reveals shocking revelations about the limits of love and power.

The Taming of the Shrew is Shakespeare’s most provocative comedy that sings with contemporary relevance, biting satire and profound insights into love, consent and everyone’s need to be accepted. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of the splendour, where historical elegance and contemporary mischief crash together for an astonishing night of theatre.

production details

Season dates:
26 Sept-15 Oct, 2025 - Wharf 2 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company
Written by: William Shakespeare
Adapted by: Mitchell Bourke
Director: Tasha O’Brien
Dramaturg: Jess Zlotnick
Cast: Megan Bennetts, Audrey Blyde, Mitchell Bourke, Erin Bruce, Sarah Greenwood, Bridget Haberecht, Mike Howlett, Megan Elizabeth Kennedy, Sonya Kerr, Will Manton, Karen Vickery and Natasha Vickery
Stage Manager: Bianca Dreis
Set Designer: Nate Cook
Costume Designer: Helen Wotjas
Intimacy Coordinator: Shondelle Pratt
Fight Choreographer: Diego Retamales
Voice + Text: Patrick Klavins
Presented by: The Playwrought Project

The creatives have assembled a stupendous ensemble to bring all of this to rib-tickling existence in an extraordinarily tight 70-minute thrill ride that doesn’t let up…Together, Zlotnick and O’Brien have seemingly made sense of Shakespeare’s controversial piece Theatre Thoughts

the play’s seen through a kaleidoscope of gender-distorting mirrors John Shand