The Taming of the Shrew in performance

"The Taming of the Shrew" in performance has had an uneven history. Popular in Shakespeare's day, the play fell out of favour during the seventeenth century, when it was replaced on the stage by John Lacy's "Sauny the Scott". The original Shakespearean text was not performed at all during the eighteenth century, with David Garrick's adaptation "Catharine and Petruchio" dominating the stage. After over two hundred years without a performance, the play returned to the British stage in 1844, the last Shakespeare play restored to the repertory. However, it was only in the 1890s that the dominance of "Catharine and Petruchio" began to wain, and productions of "The Shrew" become more regular. Moving into the twentieth century, the play's popularity increased considerably, and it became one of Shakespeare's most frequently staged plays, with productions taking place all over the world. This trend has continued into the twenty-first century, with the play as popular now as it was when first written.
Performance history.
Pre 20th century.
The earliest known performance of the play is recorded in Philip Henslowe's diary on 11 June 1594, performed by the Lord Admiral's Men and the Lord Chamberlain's Men at Newington Butts Theatre; "begininge at newing ton my Lord Admeralle men & my Lorde chamberlen men as ffolowethe [...] 11 of June 1594 Rd at the tamynge of A Shrowe." This could have been either "A Shrew" or "The Shrew", but as the Lord Chamberlain's Men were sharing the theatre at the time, and as such Shakespeare himself would have been there, scholars tend to assume it was "The Shrew". The earliest definite performance of "The Shrew" was at court before Charles I and Henrietta Maria on 26 November 1633, where it was described as being "likt".
Aside from the court performance, evidence of the play's stage history during the seventeenth century is relatively sparse. The title page of the 1631 quarto states the play had been acted by the King's Men at both the Globe and Blackfriars. The King's Men only began performing at Blackfriars in 1610, suggesting the play was still popular enough to be performed at least sixteen years after its debut. However, there is no further information available. Apart from a possible production at Drury Lane in 1663 or 1664, the play's place on the stage was taken by John Lacy's adaptation, "Sauny the Scot" at some point during the seventeenth century. The original play seems not to have been performed at all during the eighteenth century, and instead a range of adaptations held the stage, most notably David Garrick's 1754 adaptation, "Catharine and Petruchio".
Shakespeare's "The Shrew" was not performed again until 1844, the last of his plays restored to the repertory, 211 years since the last definite performance. That year, Benjamin Webster directed a production designed by J.R. Planché at the Haymarket Theatre. Starring Louisa Cranstoun Nisbett as Katherina and Webster himself as Petruchio, the production was staged in a minimalist Elizabethan manner, with only two simple locations; the outside of the alehouse, and the Lord's chamber in which the play is staged for Christopher Sly. The Induction was included in full, with Sly remaining at the front of the stage after Act 1, Scene 1, and slowly falling asleep over the course of the play. At the end, as the final curtain falls, the Lord's attendants came and carried him off-stage. Planché referred to his role in returning the play to the stage as "one of the events in my theatrical career on which I look back with greatest pride and gratification." The play received mixed reviews, with many criticising Webster's performance, and accusing the production of being overly bawdy, but it was a box office success and was revived in 1847.
Despite the financial success of Webster and Planché's production, "Catharine and Petruchio" continued to dominate the stage, and it was not until 1856 that Shakespeare's text was performed again, in a production directed by Samuel Phelps at Sadler's Wells, starring Emma Atkinson and Henry Marston. Phelpes himself played the role of Sly to general critical acclaim. In this production, Sly was carried off-stage at the end of Act 1, and although Phelps stuck to the "First Folio" text throughout the play, he "much abbreviated" Katherina's final speech.
In the United States, Shakespeare's "The Shrew" was first performed in 1887, directed by Augustin Daly at Daly's Theatre in New York, starring Ada Rehan and John Drew. Despite claims the production was pure Shakespeare, Daly made several alterations. For example, the Bianca subplot was heavily cut to allow more focus on the taming storyline. Daly also reorganised Act 4 so that Scene 2 (the arrival of the pedant in Padua) was followed by Scene 4 (the pedant confirms the dowry for Bianca), and Scene 1 (Petruchio and Katherina arriving at his house), Scene 3 (Petruchio begins taming Katherina) and Scene 5 (Petruchio and Katherina set out for Padua) formed one continuous sequence. He also included several snippets from Garrick, such as Katherina threatening to tame Petruchio in Act 2, Scene 1, and he edited Katherina's final speech in the same manner as Garrick. Another significant alteration was the omission of Katherina from Act 1, Scene 1. As such, the audience was not introduced to her in a crowded street scene where she is spoken of as if she is not present, but instead first meets her in Act 2, Scene 1, after she has tied Bianca's hands together. Critics praised this alteration, feeling it was a more explosive introduction to the character. The production was hugely successful and ran for 121 performances. It subsequently toured internationally, and was performed to critical acclaim at the Gaiety Theatre, London in March 1888 and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in August. It was also chosen as the inaugural performance at Daly's Theatre in London on 12 March 1893. Most critics consider the success of Daly's production as critical in breaking the dominance of "Catharine and Petruchio" on both sides of the Atlantic. Additionally, Rehan's performance is generally acknowledged as one of the finest depictions of Katherina ever seen. Elizabeth Schafer writes "Ada Rehan's Katherina was to haunt her successors, who were always found wanting alongside the fiery, imperious character she created." So popular was she in the role, that she continued to play it until 1905.
The first major production in England after Daly's success was that of F.R. Benson. Originally performed in the Prince's Theatre, Manchester in 1889, the production then moved to the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1890, before settling at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1893, where it became one of the most popular and often performed plays in Benson's repertory. The play was regularly performed there until the 1920s and was revived at theatres around the country up to 1932. Starring Benson's wife, Constance Benson and Benson himself as Petruchio, Benson followed Daly's example in rewriting and restructuring, such as truncating the Bianca subplot. Unlike Daly, however, Benson also removed the Induction. The production was very much a farce, with the emphasis on broad physical comedy in which Petruchio athletically leaps about the stage terrorizing a relatively passive Katherina. In its early days, it received generally strong reviews, but by 1910, the political climate had changed somewhat; the 1909 Stratford by-election had seen suffragette protests, and henceforth some critics expressed discomfort with Benson's use of farce to depict what had now become a socially relevant situation. Indeed, in the 1912 season, suffragette activist Violet Vanbrugh replaced Constance Benson in the role of Katherina, although her performance was roundly criticised for failing to bring the anticipated political edge to the character.
Early 20th century.
Another husband and wife team who had a long and successful run with the play was Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton. First staged in 1899 in the Theatre Royal in Wigan, the play became more prominent when performed at the Adelphi in 1904, directed by Otho Stuart. It subsequently went on a world tour, beginning in Australia, and Asche estimates it was performed about 1,500 times all over the world. Although a financial success, the production received mixed reviews. Many critics commented on the size difference between the large and imposing Asche and the diminutive Brayton, feeling the disparity lent the production an uncomfortable tone, especially insofar as Asche rejected Benson's farcical production in favour of a more psychologically real representation.
In the wake of the success of the Daly, Benson and Asche productions, the play began to be performed with much more frequency all over the world. A celebrated early twentieth-century Katherina was Margaret Anglin, who first performed the role in 1908 in Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne. Acting opposite Henry Kolker in a production she herself directed, Anglin is generally regarded as the first actress to have performed Katherina's final speech in an ironic manner. The play was a huge success in Australia, and in 1914, Anglin brought it on tour to New York. Of the last scene, Anglin wrote "when I run gaily in to do my lord's bidding in the last act, I do it with a twinkle in my eye. I don't play it as Shakespeare wrote that last scene." In a 1909 Max Reinhardt directed production at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, starring Lucie Höflich and Albert Bassermann, the Induction was emphasised and the play was presented as a "commedia dell'arte" style farce, to the point of the male leads literally wearing clown costumes.
In 1913, Martin Harvey, in collaboration with William Poel, directed a production at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Starring Harvey's wife Nina de Silva and Harvey himself as Petruchio, the production was very much in the style of Poel's own minimalist and authentically Elizabethan productions. Harvey kept Sly on stage throughout, however, in a unique move, he neither incorporated text from "A Shrew" nor did he have Sly lose interest and fall asleep. Instead, Sly explicitly reacts to the play - laughing at certain points, attempting to climb onto the stage during the wedding before being restrained by his 'wife', and finally succeeding in getting onto the stage later in the play, at which point he shook Petruchio's hand and then introduced himself to Katherina (albeit without dialogue). In an "extremely conventional production" at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1919, starring Ethel Warwick and Edmund Willard, William Bridges-Adams stuck rigidly to the "First Folio" text, but completely removed the Induction and all references to Sly.
In a 1922 production at The Old Vic starring Florence Buckton and Rupert Harvey, director Robert Atkins was the first to graft the "A Shrew" epilogue onto a performance of "The Shrew", with Hay Petrie playing Sly. In 1927, H.K. Ayliff directed a modern dress production at the Garrick Theatre in New York, with Mary Ellis and Basil Sydney. At the time, modern dress productions were still rare enough to elicit a great deal of attention, and the production ran for 175 performances, a record for the theatre at the time. The production was remounted in England in 1928, first at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and subsequently at the Royal Court Theatre, starring Eileen Beldon and Scott Sunderland. In this production, the Induction was kept, with Sly moving from the front of the stage to one of the boxes after the first act. Barry Jackson, who co-directed the Birmingham performances, was initially keen to use the epilogue from "A Shrew", but he ultimately decided against it "because the actual words in the old edition are so corrupt as to be illiterate." In a 1935 production starring Catherine Lacey and Neil Porter, director Ben Iden Payne became the first to use the "A Shrew" epilogue in a performance of "The Shrew" at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, with Roy Byford initially playing Sly, followed by Jay Laurier. Both actors received excellent reviews for their performances.
The most successful early-twentieth century staging was the 1935/1936 Theatre Guild production, which began on Broadway and subsequently toured all over North America. Starring husband and wife Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the show ran for a record 129 performances, and was remounted in 1940 as a fundraiser for the Finnish Relief Fund. Ostensibly directed by Harry Wagstaff Gribble, the production notes indicated that Lunt and Fontanne were responsible for the "scheme of the production," which most people took to mean they were the real directors. Presented as a rollicking farce involving circus animals, dwarfs, acrobats and clowns, the performers would often involve the audience in the play; latecomers would be heckled by the actors on some nights, whilst on others, the actors would stop the play to politely explain to the latecomers what they had missed. Any particularly loud coughing in the audience would often lead to the entire cast breaking into a fit of coughing. At the end of the play, Katherina and Petruchio ascended into the heavens in a golden chariot, accompanied by choral music. To enhance Katherina's fiery reputation, the production kept her offstage during Act 1, Scene 1. However, none of her lines were cut. Instead, they were all shouted from offstage, and were often accompanied by her flinging objects at the on-stage performers. The fight with Petruchio was also commented upon by many reviewers as being extremely physical. Lunt and Fontanne were the most famous celebrity couple of the time, and their backstage fights were rumoured to be just as ferocious as their on-stage performances. So legendary did the tempestuous reputation of the couple become that Cole Porter's 1948 musical "Kiss Me, Kate", about a fiery couple attempting to stage an adaptation of "The Taming of the Shrew", was based on their real-life antics.
Mid to late 20th century.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, the play has been frequently staged all over the world. Some notable productions include:
21st century.
"The Shrew"s popularity on stage has continued into the twenty-first century. Some notable productions include:
Theatrical adaptations.
The first known adaptation of "The Taming of the Shrew" was "The Woman's Prize, or The Tamer Tamed", a sequel written by John Fletcher "c."1611. In Fletcher's play, Katherina has died, and Petruchio has remarried, to an equally fiery woman named Maria. Attempting to tame her in a similar manner to Katherina, Petruchio finds his tactics failing, and Maria refusing to consummate their marriage until Petruchio changes his ways. She bands together with other women who are also refusing to consummate their marriages. In an effort to elicit her sympathy, Petruchio pretends to be sick, but his plan backfires when Maria has him walled up in his own bedroom, telling everyone he has the plague. Upon breaking out, he finds her dressed like a prostitute and flirting with his friends. Vowing the marriage is over, he announces he is going to travel abroad, but Maria responds by wishing him well. Eventually, Petruchio decides to pretend to be dead. Maria begins to cry, but reveals she is doing so not because she is sad at her loss
, but because it upsets her that Petruchio was such a pathetic person who wasted his life. He reveals he is not dead, and, impressed with the ruse, Maria decides to end her "taming". The play ends with them agreeing to live a life of mutual respect. When the two plays were performed at court in November 1633, Master of the Revels Henry Herbert recorded "Shrew" was "likt" but "Tamer Tamed" was "very well likt".
During the 1660s, "Shrew" was adapted by John Lacy as "Sauny the Scot", to make it better match with Fletcher's sequel. Originally performed under the "Taming of the Shrew" title, the play was published in 1698 as "Sauny the Scot: or, The Taming of the Shrew: A Comedy". This version inconsistently anglicised the character names and recast the play in prose. Lacy also expanded the part of Grumio into the title role Sauny (who speaks in a heavy Scottish brogue), which he played himself. Sauny is an irreverent, cynical companion to Petruchio, and is comically terrified of his master's new bride. Lucentio was renamed Winlove, Baptista became Lord Beaufoy and Katherina was renamed Meg. In "Sauny", Petruchio is much more vicious, threatening to whip Meg if she doesn't marry him, then telling everyone she is dead, and tying her to a bier. The play ends with her thoroughly tamed. Lacy's work premiered at Drury Lane in 1667, starring Susanna Verbruggen and George Powell. Samuel Pepys saw it on 9 April and again on 1 November, enjoying it on both occasions. The play was popular enough that it was still being performed as late as 1732, when it was staged at Goodman's Fields Theatre, and it seems to have supplanted "Shrew"s place on the English stage for the rest of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth.
In 1716, two rival adaptations, both named "The Cobler of Preston", opened in London. One, by Christopher Bullock, opened at Lincoln's Inn Fields in January 1716, and the other, by Charles Johnson, opened at Drury Lane the following month. Both concentrated on the practical joke element of the Induction and omitted entirely the Petruchio/Katherina story. Bullock renamed the character Sir Toby Guzzle, and Johnson called him Kit Sly. Both plays were short farces, designed to fill one half of a play bill. Bullock's play proved more popular, being printed four times, and performed as late as 1759.
The most successful adaptation was David Garrick's "Catherine and Petruchio", which was first performed at Drury Lane in March 1754, starring Hannah Pritchard and Henry Woodward, although Pritchard was replaced by Kitty Clive in 1756. This adaptation dominated the stage for almost a century, with Shakespeare's play not returning to the English stage until 1844, although Garrick's version was still being performed as late as 1879, when Herbert Beerbohm Tree staged it. In "Catherine and Petruchio", the subplot is entirely omitted; Bianca is married to Hortensio when the play opens. Consequently, it is not a full-length play, and was often performed with Garrick's shorter version of "The Winter's Tale" or as an afterpiece. Indeed, the play only began to dwindle in popularity when afterpieces became less fashionable in the mid-eighteenth century. Prior to that, however, it was a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic; it was first staged in North America in 1768 at the John Street Theatre, starring Margaret Cheer and Lewis Hallam. It was performed at John Philip Kemble's benefit in 1788, with a text he had prepared himself, which deviated slightly from Garrick's, starring Sarah Siddons and Kemble himself. Kemble continued to play the role for many years, including a run opposite his wife, Priscilla Kemble, in 1810. Previously, Kemble's brother, Charles Kemble had also staged the play, acting alongside his own wife, Marie Thérèse Kemble, in 1802.
Much of Shakespeare's dialogue is reproduced "verbatim". Much of the plot is also similar; Petruchio vows to marry Catharine before he has met her, she smashes a lute over the music tutor's head, Baptista fears no one will ever want to marry her; the wedding scene is identical, as is the scene where Grumio teases her with food; the haberdasher and tailor scene is very similar. At the end, however, there is no wager. Catharine makes her speech to Bianca, and Petruchio tells her,
The play ends with Catharine stating "Nay, then I'm unworthy of thy Love,/And look with Blushes on my former self." Petruchio then directly addresses the audience, using some of the unused lines from Katherina's final speech. Michael Dobson argues that Garrick's changes to "Shrew" in writing "Catharine and Petruchio" "mute the outright feudal masculinism in favour of guardedly egalitarian, and specifically private, contemporary versions of sympathy and domestic virtue."
In 1973, Charles Marowitz adapted the play as "The Shrew". Previewed at the Hot Theatre in The Hague, it premiered in the Open Space Theatre later in the year, starring Thelma Holt and Nikolas Simmonds. The play then went on international tour before a revival at the Open Space in 1975. Holt portrayed Katherina for the duration of the tour, but five separate actors portrayed Petruchio, with the last, Malcolm Tierney, considered the most successful. Refashioned as a Brothers Grimm-style gothic tragedy, the Induction was omitted, the characters of Gremio and Hortensio were removed, and the Bianca/Lucentio subplot featured as a modern-day parallel story, with both characters having their names removed, instead being simply male and female representatives. Marowitz also removed all aspects of comedy, and although he maintained a great deal of Shakespeare's original dialogue, he rearranged much of it. One example of this rearrangement was Marowitz' use of Bartholomew's lines in the Induction when he is trying to shun Sly's amorous advances;
In "The Shrew", these lines are spoken by Katherina near the end of the play. Petruchio's response is to beat her and anally rape her as his "gang" hold her down. As she is being raped, a high-pitched whistle sounds, with Katherina's mouth open as if the noise is her scream. At this point, the lights go down, and when they come back up, Katherina is dressed in an institutional gown. She delivers her final speech as if she has learned it, without any emotion or inflection, and requiring frequent prompting by Petruchio. As she finishes, she is flanked by the modern day couple, one on each side of her, both in wedding attire, posing for imaginary photographers, "a juxtaposition suggesting that marriage legitimates psycho-social and psycho-sexual abuse." The final image of the play is Katherina in a wedding gown, chained to the ground, as a funeral bell tolls. Foregrounding the themes of sadism and brain washing, in this version, the happy ending of Shakespeare's play thus takes on a disturbing irony. Marowitz described his intention in "The Shrew" as "a head-on confrontation with the intellectual substructure of the play, an attempt to test or challenge, revoke or destroy the intellectual foundation which makes a classic the formidable thing it has become [and to] combat the assumptions of a classic with a series of new assumptions, and force it to bend under the power of a new polemic." Due to the extreme nature of the production, the play divided critics and audiences, but it was a huge box office success.