The Taming of the Shrew

by William Shakespeare

Performed November 2010
(Nov 9-13 & 16-20, 2010)
at the Ron Maslin Playhouse
(10 performances: part of the regular season)

Directed by Jim Holmes


CAST

LUCENTIO Aaron Lajeunesse
TRANIO Les Cserepy
BAPTISA Bill Horsman
GREMIO Barry Caiger
KATHERINA Tania Carriere
HORTENSIO Paul Behncke
BIANCA Tara Sisson
BIONDELLA Anne-Marie(Frigon) Kelly
PETRUCHIO Dale MacEachern
GRUMIO Lee Powell
SERVANT TO BAPTISTA Anna Lisa Bloom
CURTIS Tony Gascon
PEDANT Troy Page
HABERDASHER Anna Lisa Bloom
TAILOR Diane Lee Smith
VINCENTIO Tom Kobolak
WIDOW Sandy Wynne
ALSO IN THE COMPANY Sean Behncke
Margrit Cattell
Michaela Deng
Deanna Derrick
Elaine Sandness
Daniel Smith
Margaret Sullivan

PRODUCTION STAFF

Production Manager Michèle Baddoo
Stage Manager Julie Clayton
Assistant Stage Manager Jacquie Blair
Chandra Krishnamurthy
Suzanne McAllister
Script Editor Jim Holmes
Stage Consultant Julie Clayton
Barry Fortey
Tony Francis
Paul Gardner
David Newing
Susan V. Phillips
Bill Williams
Stage Design Jim Holmes
Lighting Design Sudarsan Narasimhan
Lighting Assistant Kendrick Abell
Bob Carey
Hannah Miller
Alex Wickham
Sound Design Robert Fairbairn
Jim Holmes
Sound Assistant MacKenzie Leach
Musical performer Larraine Gorman
Continuity Cindy Armstrong
Julia Lamperd
Halia Osadca
Ann Williams
Properties Michèle Baddoo
Properties Assistant Cindy Armstrong
Michaela Deng
Francesco Galassi
Patrick Kay
Special Properties Michaela Deng
Laura Kwan
Marjorie Shaver-Jones
Furnishings Michèle Baddoo
Jim Holmes
Furnishings Assistant Michèle Baddoo
Julie Clayton
Nancy Holmes
Lee Powell
Eufron Williams
Sandy Wynne
Costume Coordinator Mary Holmes
Costumes Assistant Brenda Caiger
Kathryn Clarke
Saundra Eaves
Colette Fournier
Sam Halliday
Diane Lee Smith
Marilyn Valiquette
Make-up Bev Brooks
Make-Up Assistant Linda De Guire
Hillary Downey
Elaine Dufoe
Clare Flockton
Cecille Gagn‚
Tracey Seguin
Hair Styling Carol Walkey
Green Room Manager Chris Rosebrugh
Green Room assistant Nancy Holmes
Publicity Dwayne Aylward
House Manager Susan Monaghan
Refreshments coordinator Andrea Fajrajsl
Programme Wendy Wagner
Box Office Eufron Williams

The Taming of the Shrew, one of Shakespeare's earliest comedies, shares with The Merchant of Venice an uncomfortable fit with the literal attitudes of the 21st century. What are we to make of a play that vacillates between high farce and sentimental romance and that seems to celebrate man's dominion over woman? Do we dismiss this play as the product of its time? Or do we find in it, as Harold Bloom did, "the subtly exquisite music of marriage at its happiest"? Do we find in Kate's apparent surrender to the amiable ruffian she has married a hidden triumph, not only for her, but for all women through the ages? Do we find comfort in the knowledge that her "duty" to her husband encompasses only "true obedience" to his "honest will" and not blind submission to his arbitrary whim? Four hundred and fifteen years after its first production, these and other questions remain. They have not kept this from being one of the bard's most popular and frequently performed plays.