The Royal Shakespeare Company's re-imagined production of The Taming of the Shrew will have its U.S. premiere engagement this spring at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., with performances scheduled to begin May 6, 2020.
The production, directed by Justin Audibert, re-envisions Shakespeare's 1590 as a matriarchal society and accordingly gender swaps a number of the main characters. Katherine, the unmarried son of the wealthy Baptista, is now rowdily pursued and wooed by Petruchia.
“As with their acclaimed presentation of Hamlet at the Kennedy Center in 2018, the RSC continues to deliver inventive, re-imagined new productions of Shakespeare’s works, examining how these plays speak to our contemporary world," said Jeffrey Finn, Vice President of Theater Producing and Programming at the Kennedy Center. "I am delighted to be continuing our long relationship with the RSC and cannot wait for our audiences to experience this re-gendered new Taming of the Shrew."
The Royal Shakespeare Company production is currently playing at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon through August 31; it will later play a limited engagement at London's Barbican Theatre, with performances set to begin November 5.
Flip through photos from the production below:
