Theater News

Gender-Bending Taming of the Shrew Will Run at Kennedy Center

The Royal Shakespeare Company will bring its acclaimed production to Washington, DC.

A scene from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre production of The Taming of the Shrew.
A scene from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre production of The Taming of the Shrew.
(© Ikin Yum Photography)

The Kennedy Center has announced plans to present the US premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company's new gender-reversed production of The Taming of the Shrew, set to run in the Eisenhower Theater from May 6-10, 2020.

The production is described as follows: "Director Justin Audibert turns Shakespeare's fierce, energetic comedy of gender and materialism on its head to offer a fresh perspective on its portrayal of hierarchy and power. In this re-imagined 1590, society is a matriarchy and Baptista Minola is seeking to sell off her son Katherine to the highest bidder. Cue an explosive battle of the sexes in this electrically charged love story."

The Taming of the Shrew is currently playing at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon through August 31, and will run at London's Barbican from November 5-January 18, 2020.

Casting for the Kennedy Center engagement will be announced at a later date.