The Taming of the Shrew | Act 2 Scene 1 | Royal Shakespeare Company

Watch a scene from The Taming of the Shrew, featuring Claire Price as Petruchia, Joseph Arkley as Katherine, Laura Elsworthy as Trania, Amanda Harris as Baptista, and Sophie Stanton as Gremia.
Find out more: bit.ly/2FPteOj

[@maxalvarez5564]

The way he stood up SO FAST to take Petruchia's hand, I SCREAMED. the guy they casted for Katherine is such a cutie! ahh I love, love, lovE this version!!

[@eponymousheroine8500]

Ugh, I wish I could see this production in person, it looks incredible!

[@Andy-lm2zp]

Saw it, confusing

[@Serendipityonyoutube]

i saw this in boise

[@Hannah-vv7ru]

It was!

[@douglasdaniel4504]

Oh, I am waiting, waiting with breath bated, for the internet to find this one...oh, to see the full production...the famous tale of a boy named Kate and a girl named Pertuccia. Brilliant.

[@spottydog7143]

Probably one of the best ever Shakespeare adaptations I've ever seen

[@hermanguelovani8265]

Watched it in Barbican. Absolutely marvellous. Brilliant directing, fantastic mis-en-scenes, lots of laughs. Claire Price is incomparable. Sophie Stanton - virtuoso performance.

[@ifmusicbethefoodofloveplay8076]

Loved watching this production in Stratford with the RSC summer school! Got to have a go at playing Kate in this scene in one of the workshops, and then was fascinating to hear from joe arkley in another workshop what it’s like playing the role! If you’re not a fan of this play, this production will show you that it is a play that can still be enjoyed

[@Hannah-vv7ru]

I got to see this very cast live in Stratford in 2019. It was unbelievable!

[@sarahturner5258]

Seen it once, and coming back for more soon, loved it. Ah I thought we were going to get Sophie Stanton's superb 'glide' in its full glory then, but you can just see a glimpse at 6.47 - 6.49 in ;)

[@kwcl176]

WOW SHIT IM TOTALLY MINDBLOWN the tone and delivery is well suited according to the characters' gender and state of mind (especially pertruchia) the adaptation itself its just crazy like props to whoever that thought of this idea (not only it brings a new perspective to gender stereotypes, but also to the fact that reversing the power dynamics of two genders while keeping the era constant) and also notice the slight details and changes to the lines to suit the gender bend (7:00 swearing jack to swearing jill as the female version, although I am not completely sure whether jill had the same meaning at the time, but for a present audience thats completely fine)

[@bashkillszombies]

Maybe you can explain it to the rest of the class. Is this some bizarre gender swapped version? Why is a man named Kate? Why is the woman talking as if she's a man yet dressed as a woman and clearly is a woman? And whose taxes fund this production dare I ask? Watching this cemented my hatred of Shakespeare and the theatre as pompous confusing nonsense. Who is Kate, and why is Kate a man, and why is the woman talking like a man and the man like a woman? More importantly, why? Is it to confuse the audience on purpose? Or to just humiliate those of us who aren't familiar with this play?

[@Louradford]

Just been to see this tonight... Thank you so much for coming to Nottingham RSC... it was blooming great...

[@Alun49]

I would have loved to see this production. Utterly brilliant performance by Claire Price!

[@lilyclaire6576]

Such a brilliant take

[@Memo2Self]

Thank you so much for this! I saw the telecast here in Florida and the gender-swap made me hear shadings of the text I'd never considered before. This was also my first introduction to Claire Price, who is just spectacular in this role, and was also excellent in the extraordinary production of "Measure for Measure" later this past summer. Now I have a clip to share!

[@beverlyfletcher4458]

All in the word-play delivered without peer. And those costumes, looks fantastic.

[@tuhsiaofu]

Very interesting and impressive interpretation

[@Paul-ug8fy]

Lovely costumes!!!

[@user-xw6ni5mt9y]

One of the best comedy of I have ever seen

[@shaunig6716]

My favourite ever production of Shrew! Brilliant concept 😁

[@HedwigTaube]

I LOVE THIS!

[@carolineharley5262]

I loved every second of this pay

[@bashkillszombies]

So much so you couldn't even spell it right.

[@steerpike66]

I'll kiss you, Petruchia, What an absolute poppet.

[@Lucia-ir6id]

Christian Bale has blown me away with his Shakespeare skills.

[@beverlyfletcher4458]

It isn't him.....

[@viniciusgerard]

why does England have to be so far away??!?! :(

[@ashleygonzalez-fkacassteve4170]

INcredible.

[@lucywall6908]

Taming of the shrew? They should probably rename it Taming of the Beast.

[@joeycastrellon7754]

Anyone know a site where I can watch the full performance of this version ? I'll pay.

[@sarahrichman5836]

It's now available online via a subscription to Marquee TV, if you're still interested.

[@nomi9997]

digital theatre. com as well!

[@Andy-lm2zp]

@@sarahrichman5836 fantastic tip thanks, did not know about this

[@lakehayden]

Very late for this lol Looks fantastic, clearly got the right the actors though, this concept fails badly in the wrong hands. The only other thing I’ve seen Claire Price in was Poirot 😳I was NOT expecting this, she’s absolutely incredible 👏🏽

[@paulstjohn6690]

love what the greeks used to do

[@TueSorensen]

THANK YOU for a longer clip!! Not sure if this straightforward gender swap *without* changing the (male) names makes much sense, though... Something more clever should be done with it.

[@kiarasylviedurbin]

wooaahhhhhh

[@FriendzonePlays]

Is there a way to watch this online?

[@FriendzonePlays]

nvm, just gonna buy the DVDs

[@bashkillszombies]

I am so confused. Are ... did they swap lines? Catherine is a man's name. And the woman is talking as if she is a man, and the man as if he's a woman. Damn now I remember why I loath Shakespeare and the theatre in general. This is obnoxiously confusing. Edit: Ok having watched it twice I'm none the wiser. Although given it's some English thing I'm surprised everyone isn't black, they usually don't allow anyone with light skin on stages anymore.

[@smallwiener8066]

Garbage. The repartee between the two doesn't even make sense. They should update the title so people know not to click on it.

[@pjosepha]

i don't get it- y did they swap bodies or ID? shakespeare didn't plan this

[@felipevalenciahernandez5554]

Now this is my second favorite Petruchio/a, the first being the John Cleese's performance in the 80's

[@jenniferwills9752]

Now that is the real version of Taming of the Shrew

[@sianwarwick633]

Getting a bit close to the Globe eh ? wow. Role-reversal

[@Certifiedstargirll]

I’m so confused 😭 what the flip are they saying

[@ariannachee1448]

Comments are lovely at the top but all hate at the bottom... let me explain for those hating on this play. The ONLY thing they changed in this play was the genders of the characters, otherwise the entire play is line for line. People love the original play but when the roles are reversed everyone begins to scream about feminism, wokeness, and the liberal agenda. No. If you were fine with the original and hate this one because it's suddenly men in an abusive situation, the problem is not the feminists or the liberals, its the people who are okay with abuse of women both in the past and today, but shocked and furious about the STAGED portrayal of men in women's positions. Anyway, rant over, 1000000/10 to the cast and crew!!!🙌🙌🙌

[@monsterduck4x4]

Why MaleKate look like Christian Bale though lmao

[@sophiac.1892]

i really love productions like this, it's a shame that some people don't like them simply because they dare to be different. i think reimaginings are a thought-provoking way to bring shakespeare into the modern age, 'wokeness' has nothing to do with it.

[@tprice1735]

Feminist director, perchance?

[@angelajoybb]

So confused

[@leigh7507]

They switched the gender/sex around - in case any students are confused as to why it seems off script - plot, and words are the same

[@bashkillszombies]

Thank you, I didn't see this before commenting. I was SO confused. It cemented my hatred of theatre and Shakespeare in general.

[@tombrewer1903]

Thankful the Bard himself cannot see this.

[@williammartin2593]

Oh no. It is a venal sin to add new words to Shakespeare. All else is allowed.

[@jamesbaker9106]

No

[@breezingby2611]

Don’t like this production It feels like it’s doing little to address or subverts the play’s issues Changing the gender doesn’t suddenly make all that go away

[@piupolino2618]

The gender roles being switched makes the play feel unatural... still a great performance though

[@Gabi-gg5de]

i think thats what makes it great XD

[@m1863m]

The hell did I just watch?

[@robinhard111]

Strikes me as being exceedingly silly, well performed though it may be.

[@sergiolobato1798]

WTF?! If you become weary of perfection, seek to alter elsewhere...

[@johnnemo4146]

What's that? The "Woketard", "Femtard" version?

[@BakerBritt]

Afraid this unimaginative swap of the sexes made any number of the jokes fall flat. The other ones fell flat from flat acting.

[@Phi1618033]

The gender swap totally threw me off guard. Is this a thing they're doing in plays now?

[@Greenwillow]

Oh dear! Prefer the original versions. Can not take to this PC version. 😏

[@tomservo75]

No I'm sorry call me old fashioned but this is not the way the play was written. Though I'll say the acting itself seems very good. To have the gender reversal just doesn't work for me. If one wants to write a play similar where they're two brothers wooed instead of two sisters, that's perfectly fine, but not the Shakespeare play. And why is the man STILL called Kate? Of course there are going to be the woke crowd who feel obligated to call this "refreshing" and a "modern adaptation." Yes the original play was misogynist, but this isn't the solution. History is history, present is present.

[@heathersteed6813]

The original play questioned misogyny… as. Kate’s transformation is too extreme

[@sabinabijan7918]

Very confusing indeed... Forced brain bending.

[@lewisoliverleo]

I think it's just to be funny. Kate would have been played by a man in the original showings, it's a funny reversal. Not everything is a culture war

[@renshiwu305]

I'm not feelin' it. "Kate" is not shrewish. At best he (she?) is mulish.

[@OreadNYC]

In Shakespeare's day, mulishness would have been enough for a woman to have been labeled a shrew. A proper woman in Shakespeare's day was supposed to be agreeable, biddable, meek, and submissive.

[@grahamwilliamson7284]

Why the gender shift? What is gained? What is the point?

[@Rileys887]

It's fun, that's why. They do it all the time.

[@bashkillszombies]

Confusing and humiliating us unwashed peasants who aren't in on the joke. The same as anything the wokerati do.

[@michaelnixon525]

No, it's - women are made to bear and so are you - it's a reference to child birth - geddit? Personally, I've met lots of blokes called Kate - how come she's Petrucchia but he's not Kevin? Emperors and new clothes come to mind.

[@ineffabledolphin9139]

It is no less lecherous and disgusting when swapped

[@likskirtspleetscreen]

It always felt flat and cringy

[@Magikcat666]

Just seen this at Nottingham ... It was ok but with the gender swapping and the political correctness tick box ... it was a bit much .. although I will say Claire Price was amazing as Petruchia

[@jp9707]

The gender swap was an artistic choice, to explore the power dynamics between genders in the play, rather than a 'political correctness tick box'. It was a creative decision, in line with the RSC's usual approach of making unusual choices to bring out previously unexplored elements in well-trodden narratives.

[@andrewmunn3896]

Oh please! let’s change Shakespeare to support feminism! Must appease those offended by everything

[@pauloamaral6069]

I was waiting for Petruchio and Kate, not for "a girl besting male violence" and all this bullshitting. Poor Shakespeare. He lived in a age better than ours.

[@thewizardssleeve119]

Gender swapping roles like this is a cheap and glib piece of virtue signalling - Shakespeare is meaningful and timeless enough not to need such trite treatments.

[@Yas-zq4rk]

oh, shut the fuck up. Shakespeare would be proud. You sound like you don't study literature.

[@emperormiguel8327]

No he would not, my friend. Taming of the Shrew was meant to be about bringing rowdy women to proper obedience to their husbands. To swap the genders and make the man a woman disrupts the whole message. A man is not a woman.

[@Yas-zq4rk]

@@emperormiguel8327 Shakespeare was a revolutionary writer who enjoyed toying with gender and cross dressing. Yes this play was meant to be sexist but I know for a fact that Shakespeare was always open to subversive messages. His plays were all about poking fun at upper classes and at the notion of gender, creating so many powerful women. I doubt he would have had a problem with this. You guys are missing the point of this decision by the director, it was meant to show how sexist the play was by having men put into the same position as a woman of the time. I study literature, most likely none of you do, and the point of good literature is to spread a message. That's what the director decided.

[@Yas-zq4rk]

@@emperormiguel8327 Also Shakespeare wasn't allowed to write what he wanted. Many times he was just appealing to the people who hired him.

[@emperormiguel8327]

@@Yas-zq4rk "Also Shakespeare wasn't allowed to write what he wanted. Many times he was just appealing to the people who hired him." Where is your hard evidence for this? Do you have it in writing, perhaps?

[@cavebear33]

Outstanding performances, but I'm not into gimmicks, and some of the dialogue doesn't interpret very well into gender swapping. I prefer my Shakespeare done with its biology intact.

[@clarewatkins3663]

This had got to be the most hilariously ironic statement about Shakespeare so far

[@BakerBritt]

@tommys.toblerone In the all-male cast, the actors played female parts. This isn't a difficult concept. Reversing the roles makes no sense and few of the jokes work.

[@57andstillkicking]

This is disgusting.

[@zeinmady6827]

This is cringe, it is just the truth darlings

[@tomashize]

Good actors but the gender swap just doesn't work

[@sianwarwick633]

Yeah but it's worth looking at