April 13 - June 10
If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
This hilarious comedy is much more than a “battle of the sexes”; it is also a profound look at the necessity of “play” in our lives. This production includes Shakespeare’s “Induction,” which presents the Kate and Petruchio story as a play within the play. Blending romantic comedy and outlandish farce, Shakespeare gives us a love story of psychological liberation and the mysteries of being married.
Annabelle Rollison. Photo by Tommy Thompson
Constance Swain and Josh Clark. Photo by Tommy Thompson.
Annabelle Rollison and Ronald Román. Photo by Tommy Thompson.
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. Photo by Tommy Thompson.
Audience members enjoy THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. Photo by Tommy Thompson.
Mitchell McCollum. Photo by Tommy Thompson.
Cast
PREVIOUSLY WITH ASC: Mr. Dashwood, Music Director in Sense and Sensibility; Macduff, Bloody Captain in Macbeth; Christopher Sly, Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew; Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, …
THIS SEASON: Ghost of Christmas Past, Charwoman in A Christmas Carol (3rd season)
K.P. Powell is an actor and director with the American Shakespeare Center, known for his dynamic performances and bold storytelling on stage and off.
THIS SEASON: Bardolph, Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor; Northumberland, Bardolph, Glendower, Sir Michael in Henry IV, Part 1…
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Sir John in Sense and Sensibility; Ross, Hecate in Macbeth; Baptista, Haberdasher, Hunter 1, Servant 2 in The Taming of the Shrew; Cecil in Equivocation.
John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility; Banquo, Loon, Old Siward in Macbeth; Lucentio, Huntsman in The Taming of the Shrew; Nate, Banquo, Ensemble in Equivocation.
Constance Swain is an innovative director whose bold vision and creative energy inspire captivating storytelling at ASC and beyond.
Topher Embrey is an actor at the American Shakespeare Center. Explore his theater experience, education, and background.
Sir John in Sense and Sensibility; Ross, Hecate in Macbeth; Baptista, Haberdasher, Hunter 1, Servant 2 in The Taming of the Shrew; Cecil in Equivocation.
THIS SEASON: Caska in Julius Caesar, Mary Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Actor and Assistant Director of MFA Theatre at Randolph College, bringing depth to each role with experience in classic and contemporary theatre.
K.P. Powell is an actor and director with the American Shakespeare Center, known for his dynamic performances and bold storytelling on stage and off.
PREVIOUSLY WITH ASC: Mr. Dashwood, Music Director in Sense and Sensibility; Macduff, Bloody Captain in Macbeth; Christopher Sly, Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew; Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, …
Ronald Román-Meléndez is an accomplished actor with over 30 previous roles at the American Shakespeare Center.
THIS SEASON: Bardolph, Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor; Northumberland, Bardolph, Glendower, Sir Michael in Henry IV, Part 1…
THIS SEASON: Ghost of Christmas Past, Charwoman in A Christmas Carol (3rd season)
Sir John in Sense and Sensibility; Ross, Hecate in Macbeth; Baptista, Haberdasher, Hunter 1, Servant 2 in The Taming of the Shrew; Cecil in Equivocation.
K.P. Powell is an actor and director with the American Shakespeare Center, known for his dynamic performances and bold storytelling on stage and off.
THIS SEASON: Ghost of Christmas Past, Charwoman in A Christmas Carol (3rd season)
THIS SEASON: Bardolph, Doctor Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor; Northumberland, Bardolph, Glendower, Sir Michael in Henry IV, Part 1…
THIS SEASON: Ghost of Christmas Past, Charwoman in A Christmas Carol (3rd season)
Artistic Team
Jemma Alix Levy is the founding Artistic Director of Muse of Fire Theatre Company, an Asst. Professor of Theater at Washington & Lee University.
Thomas J. Coppola was part of the American Shakespeare Center from 2015 to 2025.
Jessica brings years of costume design and construction knowledge to the ASC, from dying to leather work, design to tailoring, and everything in between. Originally from southern Iowa, she has …
Assistant Costume Designer
Emily is a senior undergraduate studying Theatrical Design and Production at University of Northern Iowa.
Stephanie Holladay Earl is an accomplished actor, director, choreographer, & educator with over 15 years of experience, known for her impactful work.
Mercutio and Montague in Romeo and Juliet and Dromio of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors; Fight Captain
Properties Master
Chris has been designing and building props for the ASC since 2012. In that time, he’s provided props for over 60 productions, including (from Shakespeare): The Merchant of Venice; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Cymbeline; King John; Love’s Labour’s Lost; Twelfth Night; Julius Caesar; Henry VIII; The Two Noble Kinsmen; Romeo and Juliet; All’s Well That Ends Well; Troilus and Cressida; Othello; The Merry Wives of Windsor; Henry IV, Part 1; As You Like It; Timon of Athens; Macbeth; The Comedy of Errors; Pericles; Hamlet; Much Ado about Nothing; The Taming of the Shrew; Antony and Cleopatra; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Winter’s Tale; Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, and 3; Henry V; The Tempest; Measure for Measure; and King Lear.
Let me be absolutely clear about something:
I am a feminist. This is not an admission, or an apology, or an attempt to start an argument. It is a fact. I believe gender does not determine someone’s worth or abilities, nor should it have anything to do with how they are treated. I believe in equality, plain and simple. And that is the definition of a feminist.
Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is commonly thought of as antithetical to feminist ideals. In fact, I have been flatly told that it is a misogynist play and, as a woman, I should refuse to direct it. My usual response is, “Have you read it?” Because Katherine, the main female character in this play, is quite clearly a feminist. She refuses to accept the lower status society assigns to her based on her gender. Her tenacity, her wit, and her intelligence shine through in everything she does. She is both inspiring and empathetic. Katherine’s existence is all the proof I need that Shakespeare believed women are equal to men in every way.
But this is entirely irrelevant. Because this is not a political play.
The Taming of the Shrew is not about feminism. It is about love. In contemporary parlance, this is a rom-com. Katherine’s fight to establish herself as equal to the men around her comes wrapped in the story of what happens when we fall in love. This is a play about how we change ourselves for others, both by choice and unknowingly. It looks at the ways in which we all perform for each other. (The story of Katherine and Petruchio is, in fact, the longest play-within-a-play that Shakespeare wrote).
Shakespeare uses comedy to make us look closely at how many of the compromises we make –– to fit in, to attract others, to get what we want, to find happiness –– are worth it, and how many are utterly ridiculous. He doesn’t single out the women. He doesn’t single out the men. Like a true feminist, he points the finger at all of us in equal measure.
Jemma alix levy
guest director
STUFF THAT HAPPENS IN THE INDUCTION . . .
- A Lord finds a drunken tinker, Christopher Sly, asleep on the ground and decides to play a trick on him.
- The Lord tells Sly that he has had amnesia for fifteen years and that Sly is really a Lord.
- Sly accepts his new nobility and all of the amenities that come with it.
- Traveling players arrive to present a “pleasant comedy” set in Italy for the “Lord Christopher Sly.”
STUFF THAT HAPPENS IN THE PLEASANT COMPANY . . .
- Lucentio and his servants, Tranio and Biondello, arrive in Padua to study.
- Baptista, a merchant from Padua, decrees that no one can marry his “sacred and sweet” younger daughter, Bianca, until his elder daughter “of devilish spirit,” Kate, is wed.
- Lucentio falls in love with Bianca, who is also being wooed by Hortensio and old Gremio.
- To win Bianca, Lucentio disguises himself as a Latin teacher; Hortensio disguises himself as a music teacher.
- Lucentio’s servant, Tranio, disguises himself as Lucentio to woo Bianca openly for his master.
- Petruchio arrives in Padua to find a rich wife. Hearing of the shrewish Kate and her generous dowry, Petruchio vows to marry her.
- Petruchio meets Kate, his equal at verbal sparring. After a playful exchange, Petruchio announces that they will be married on Sunday.
- Petruchio, dressed in ridiculous clothes, arrives late on the wedding day. After the ceremony, he refuses to stay for the wedding feast. Instead, he whisks Kate off to his home in Verona.
- Tranio (disguised as Lucentio) outbids old Gremio for Bianca’s hand in marriage while the real Lucentio (still disguised) wins Bianca’s love.
- Tranio finds an old man to impersonate Lucentio’s father, Vincentio; this imposter meets with Baptista and consents to the marriage of Lucentio and Bianca.
- The real Vincentio shows up.
- Chaos, perfect parings, and wagers ensue.