Melbourne Shakespeare Company returns to St Kilda Botanical Gardens this December with an ambitious production of The Taming of the Shrew where each night the audience chooses who plays the ‘Shrew’ and who gets to tame them!
The Taming of The Shrew features choreography from John Reed (West Side Story) and musical accompaniment by Paul Morris (Wind in the Willows) while incorporating hits from Frank Sinatra, Cher and even Australian Crawl. Packed with local references and audience interaction, The Taming of the Shrew is set to be a rollercoaster ride of language, love, laughter that you won’t forget.
The production also addresses some of the challenging ideas about gender by using a predominantly female cast fighting for the love of the famously handsome, Bianco.
If choosing your cast for the evening and singing along to your favourite songs isn’t enough, you’ll enjoy marvelling at the costumes by Rhiannon Irving (The Australian Ballet) and set by Hayley James (Beauty and the Beast) made entirely from recycled materials, including dresses made of old plastic bags and a set designed from reassembled old furniture.
“The Taming of the Shrew is our most exciting project yet. We’re pushing our cast to the limits having to rehearse multiple versions of the production, not knowing who will go on until the start of the show and we’ve ensured every prop, costume and set-piece you see on stage is recycled”, said the play’s Director Jennifer Sarah Dean.
Based in Port Phillip, internationally renowned director Jennifer Sarah Dean trained at the Globe Theatre in London. Dean directed the 2017 Australian tour of Ghost Stories and the critically acclaimed production of Travesties at 45 downstairs earlier this year.
The Taming of the Shrew is a family-friendly production and audiences are encouraged to bring a picnic to enjoy while watching. Seating is provided at the venue but protective sun wear is recommended for matinee performances.
Tickets and more information are available at www.melbourneshakespeare.com.
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