The Taming of the Shrew 

August 18-21, 25-27

A wealthy Padua merchant, Baptista, has two daughters. One day Lucentio, a student, comes to Padua, sees Bianca, the younger sister, and falls madly in love with her. But Baptista will not allow Bianca to be married before her older sister, Katherina, who has a scornful attitude to men and expresses that without restraint. Two local men, Hortensio and Gremio, are pursuing Bianca but she doesn’t like either of them, so they have to resort to a range of tactics to try and further their interest. Gremio hires Lucentio, disguised as a Latin tutor, to woo Bianca on his behalf. Hortensio poses as a musician to try and get into her company. Enter Petruchio from Verona, who hears the story about the feisty Kate. He sees her as a challenge, which he decides to rise to. Baptista welcomes this as he is fed up with Kate’s disruptive behavior. He accepts Petruchio’s offer of marriage and although Kate opposes it, she cannot do anything about a father’s right to marry his daughter off. Petruchio arrives at the church outlandishly dressed and whisks her off to Verona as soon as the marriage is pronounced. During the journey, Kate rebels against her husband but he begins training her to obey him. He wears her resistance down and eventually, she submits and becomes an obedient wife. She delivers a lecture to the other wives on the duties of a wife. But…is she sincere or is she playing the game?