Battle of the sexes | 6 December 2012

Tough play, The Taming of the Shrew. Uniquely among Shakespeare’s comedies, it moves audiences to pity and fear. It’s a video-nasty in the garb of a marital farce, an uncomfortable romance whose closing reconciliation scene invariably draws lusty hisses from female play-goers as Kate renounces her autonomy and bows to the will of her brutal husband, Petruchio. Directors prefer to approach this squirm-inducing parade of sexual violence through the comforting distortions of a veil. Single-gender productions are popular. In a Gujurati version, Kate is portrayed as an immigrant and the title had been coyly changed to A Foolish Foreign Woman Comes to Her Senses.

Cole Porter goes for the vegetarian option by taking us backstage during a tour of the play. The actors playing Kate and Petruchio are disenchanted lovers who still have feelings for one another. The set-up is far from simple. In the opening scene we meet Lilli, a fading movie star playing Kate, who learns that her ex-squeeze, Fred (playing Petruchio), has seduced an actress named Lois who plays Bianca.