Taming of the Shrew, The

Penelope Mortimer, author of bestselling novel The Pumpkin Eater, offers her personal view of the "witty and pleasant comedy" The Taming of the Shrew, which celebrates the war between the sexes.

This short silent film, made by the American Mutoscope & Biograph company and directed by the famous D. W. Griffith, is an extremely abbreviated version of Willian Shakespeare's marriage comedy The Taming of the Shrew.

Courtship or conquest? The breakdown of a defiant spirit or a breakthrough that liberates a heart deprived of love? The Stratford Festival production of Shakespeare’s boisterous comedy will stir your emotions with the love story of Katherina and Petruchio, the feisty couple at the centre of this fierce and funny battle of wills.

Staging any Shakespeare play requires specific choices about how to handle 400-year-old material. However, The Taming of the Shrew, like a handful of others in the Bard’s body of work, carries extra baggage. It is especially fascinating to watch high school and college-age performers work on the play—to see how they tackle issues of male dominance and female independence, if at all. This program records just such a process, highlighting the rehearsal and performance of Act IV, Scene 3, at London’s Globe Theatre. Afterwards, the players discuss the scene and their attitudes toward it. Part of the series Training for Shakespeare: Young Actors’ Workshops at the Globe Theatre. (15 minutes)