AT
THE BROWARD CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
March-April, 2024

TCT’s last Shakespearean revival, a reimagining of Shakespeare’s great tragedy King Lear, was named one of the top ten plays of 2018 by Boca Magazine. With SHREW, TCT turns to one of Shakespeare’s most controversial works, a play that has left audiences divided on whether the playwright was a misogynist or a proto-feminist. Made famous in a mid-twentieth century revival that starred real life sparring lovers Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, this comedy epitomizes the age-old battle of the sexes in the tumultuous courtship of the characters Katherina and Petruchio. Thinking Cap’s innovative new staging will allow performers and audiences alike to experience and judge different casting and directorial choices in real time to explore our shifting perceptions of what’s playable, offensive, or funny. “Shakespeare’s works play differently in every age. This particular work presents a meaningful opportunity, in this moment, to ‘hold a mirror up to nature,’ in the words of Hamlet, and to demonstrate the perennial nature of some of our current debates,” says Stodard.

This main stage production is part of The People vs. Shakespeare’s Shrew, a multifaceted project that invites audiences to engage deeply with this problem play through complementary programming that includes the following: a staged reading of John Fletcher’s 1611 response play entitled The Woman’s Prize or the Tamer Tamed; Sunday Talkbacks with the cast and creative team; and ‘Shakespeare Was Here,’ a 6-episode podcast series with Shakespeare practitioners and scholars from around the country.