Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
Thu 28 Feb-Wed 6 Mar
Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew has been criticised in recent years due to the plot’s misogynistic overtones, namely the main character’s use of abusive tactics in order to force his new wife into submission. Vain, boastful Petruchio is unwilling to tolerate the sharp tongue of the titular shrew Katherine, and denies her food and clothing as well as manipulating her sense of reality – gaslighting, as today’s language has it.
Prominent Scottish playwright Jo Clifford seeks to overturn this portrayal when she brings her re-imagination of this contentious comedy to the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff this month. Clifford has made a name for herself on the UK theatre circuit due to her explorations of gender identity, including her controversial depiction of a transgender Christ in The Gospel According To Jesus, Queen Of Heaven. In her update of the Bard’s work, Clifford inverts the power dynamics to explore a world in which women are dominant.
A trans woman herself, Clifford wasn’t always as confident showcasing her views on gender identity as she is now. She spent a large portion of her life dealing with feelings of shame and self-consciousness until she allowed the performative, playwrighting side of herself to come out. In her razor-sharp version of Shakespeare’s play, she works to question the gender expectations that constrained her for so long.
Petruchio, the bawdy and arrogant female protagonist, is used to having things her own way, which is why she refuses to be sidetracked by Kate, an alluring but headstrong boy who refuses to submit to her. In this production, directed by Michael Fentiman, Clifford invites us to imagine a place without patriarchy, and to ask, “Do you still think men are fit to govern us?” AMY TIFFIN
Tickets: £9-£18. Info: 029 2064 6900 / www.shermantheatre.co.uk