Shrewd 'Shrew' subverts Shakespeare

FEW Shakespearean plays trouble women more than The Taming of the Shrew. Despite it being a screwball comedy, it ends with the strong and independent Kate - the titular "shrew" - being starved and bullied into complete submission to her misogynistic husband Petruchio. Which woman would enjoy that?

At Wednesday's opening night of the spirited open-air production at Fort Canning, several women cringed and shook their heads in despair at the sight of Kate in a dirty dress grovelling at the feet of Petruchio.

But they may have been missing the point. For director Joe Murphy has attempted to make an entirely different statement with his all-women production of Shrew, the first production by the famous Shakespeare Globe to play here.