The Queen's Company to Stage All-Female TAMING OF THE SHREW at the Wild Project

The Queen's Company, New York City's acclaimed (and first) all-female classical theater company, now in its 15th season, proudly presents William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, directed by The Queen's Company Artistic Director Rebecca Patterson. Taming of the Shrew runs from April 16 - May 1, 2016 in a limited engagement at the Wild Project, located at 195 East 3rd Street between Avenue A and Avenue B in New York City.

Performances are Tuesdays - Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at http://QueensCompany.org or by calling 1-866-811-4111. Tickets are 2 for 1 on Tuesday nights. For info visit http://QueensCompany.org, Like them on Facebook athttps://www.Facebook.com/The-Queens-Company-219369338392, and follow on Twitter at @queenscompany.

Taming of the Shrew is one of Shakespeare's funniest, sexiest and most controversial comedies. A fiery ferocious female meets her match in a charming tempestuous man while her blow-up doll sister's pack of suitors vie for her vinyl hand. How will their marriages survive when obedience is the price demanded for love? The Queen's Company's provocative production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, featuring an all-female cast, will delight and surprise with its unexpected redemptive ending.

The cast includes Tiffany Abercrombie, Kelsey Arendt, Ashley Samona Baker, Amy Driesler, Laura E. Johnston, Nylda Mark, Elisabeth Preston and Catherine Talton.

The production team includes Angelica Borrero (Set Design), Alberto Ruiz (Lighting Design), Elizabeth Flores (Costume Design), Beth Lake (Sound Design), Judi Lewis Ockler (Fight Choreography) and Veronica Gheller (Production Stage Manager).

The Queen's Company is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation of innovative productions of classical plays featuring all-female casts. Their critically acclaimed productions are directed by founding Artistic Director Rebecca Patterson. The Queen's Company weds a love of language to a love of life, weaving inspiration from history and world cultures into the fabric of their classical productions, celebrating the poly-cultural American voice. Their work is known for its exquisite use of language, bold physicality, creative storytelling and artistic playfulness. They advocate for gender-blind casting in classical theatre.

Over the past 14 years The Queen's Company has continued to garner wide critical acclaim. The New York Times wrote, "The Queen's Company, it seems, just wants to have fun, and fun they have. In their version of Taming of the Shrew there is no question that women rule...Taming is anything but tame." "The Queen's Company, an all-female troupe, has mounted a fun and frivolous new production of Shakespeare's [Much Ado About Nothing]...a charming evening," said The New Yorker and The Washington Post cheered, "Bearded or barefoot, these ladies act up a storm." The New York Times called their production of The Wonder "A treat...so many belly laughs...a lot of fun to be had," and The New York Observer stated, "The entire company is refreshing and enormous fun and a great contribution to New York Theatre."

Rebecca Patterson is a NYC based freelance director and founding Artistic Director of The Queen's Company (NYC). She is originally from Vancouver, Canada where she trained as an actor before heading south to the States. She has an MFA in directing from UCLA. Her work for The Queen's Company has been warmly received by both critics and audiences alike and includes Aphra Behn's Sir Patient Fancy, The Lucky Chance, The Feign'd Courtesans, The Rover, Shakespeare's As You Like It, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Antony & Cleopatra, Macbeth, Susanna Centlivre's The Wonder, Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, and Sheridan's The School For Scandal. In addition to her work for The Queen's Company she has directed for Women's Project, New Georges, TACT, Resonance Ensemble, and regionally for Perishable Theatre, Theatre Offensive, Asian American Theatre, and Theatre Rhinoceros. She received a Lucille Lortel Award by the League of Professional Theatre Women for her direction in The Wonder and her longstanding body of work.

Patterson explains, "In my all-female cast classical productions male characters are performed as written - that is as Renaissance men, who move through the world quite differently from contemporary men - transcending gender, they are complete in their humanity and can be played equally well by either male or female actors. It has been my experience that gender-blind casting speaks to a diverse audience - queer, straight, men and women - it is a true reflection of our rich and complex contemporary community."

"The Queen's Company is dedicated to changing the face of NYC classical theatre. It goes beyond our desire to see more ethnic and gender diversity. It's about quality. It's about seeing actors onstage who are there not because of their TV, film and Broadway credits but because they are excellent classical actors. Actors who are so facile and familiar with classical language that they speak it as though they were born to it, as though they speak it every day when they order lunch from their local bodega. When we move beyond the star system for casting actors, NYC classical theatre will grow in both quality and diversity," says Patterson.

The Wild Project is accessible from the F train to 2nd Avenue.

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