Bold New Take On Taming Of The Shrew At The Sherman Theatre

Sherman Theatre and Tron Theatre Company are delighted to announce the cast for their world premiere co-production of Jo Clifford’s bold new play based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of The Shrew. The production directed by Michael Fentiman runs at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff from February 28  to March 16 and then Tron Theatre, Glasgow from March 20 to 30.

In this bawdy and riotous take on the contentious classic, Jo Clifford turns Shakespeare’s original on its head and paints a world in which women hold all the power. An exceptional cast including the best of Welsh and Scottish acting talent has been assembled for this production. Scarlett Brookes will play Petruchio with Matt Gavan taking the role of Katherina. The cast also features Welsh actors Alexandria Riley, Claire Cage and François Pandolfo. They are joined by Louise Ludgate and Hannah Jarrett-Scott .

Jo Clifford has said about her new version of The Taming of the Shrew: “I was asked to adapt The Taming of the Shrew way back at the beginning of my career. But I hated the bullying and the misogyny in the play so profoundly that I turned the commission down. It’s a huge joy to return to the play now and transform it from a queer perspective. So my Shrew no longer supports the patriarchy. Instead it turns it upside down. And it allows us to dream of a matriarchal world….”

Rachel O’Riordan, Sherman Theatre’s former Artistic Director, who commissioned the play has said: “Jo Clifford, as a Trans writer, felt to me to be an exciting choice to respond to this play through the prism of a modern society, through her own experience and in a cultural environment where gender is fluid and coded behaviour is becoming less endemic. I am so excited to see what happens with Jo and Michael Fentiman, who is directing this. It feels timely, bold and relevant – in keeping with the Sherman legacy of new work over the past 5 years.”