Seattle Shakespeare to Present Trailer Park TAMING OF THE SHREW, 4/25-5/12

A rowdy, rural romance takes the stage when Seattle Shakespeare Company presents a revival of its popular trailer park version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shew. Originally produced in 2009 as part of the company's outdoor Wooden O shows, The Taming of the Shrew will be brought indoors to The Playhouse at Seattle Center April 25 through May 12. Director Aimée Bruneau along with many of the original cast members return for the revival.

Tickets to The Taming of the Shrew are available now through the Seattle Shakespeare Company Box Office at 206-733-8222 as well as online at www.seattleshakespeare.org.

"Four years or so ago when this show was first put up in the parks, I got a look at it out in front of a crowd and the first thing I thought was 'This show has to come back. It could play inside for a mainstage season,'" said Artistic Director George Mount. "I wanted to kick off the summer, it being the 20th anniversary of Wooden O, by giving us a strong lead-in with one of the great, great park shows. Again, there wasn't a better choice than this fabulous production of The Taming of the Shrew."

Seattle Shakespeare Company's The Taming of the Shrew has been reset in a rough and forgotten corner of backwoods America. The tempestuous and sharp-tongued Kate, who lives with her mother and sister in the Padua Trailer Park, bows down to no man. But then Petruchio swaggers into town with a plan to steal Kate's guarded heart. Through bickering and brawling, their comic courtship is a no-holds-barrEd Battle of the sexes that results in a love and understanding that neither one imagined.

The Taming of the Shrew has the distinction of being Seattle Shakespeare Company's most re-mounted play. In fact, each time the company has produced the play it has been brought back for a revival. An outdoor commedia dell arte version was revived for several summers during Seattle Shakespeare Company's early years, and then an acclaimed 2003 all-male version of the play was remounted in 2005.

Cast members from the original 2009 production in the parks that will return for the 2013 indoor production of The Taming of the Shrew include: Keith Dahlgren (Gremio/Walter), Karen Jo Fairbrook (Mama Baptista Minola), David Gassner (Pedant/Soldier/Joseph/Priest), Bill Higham (Vincentio/Curtis), David S. Hogan (Grumio), Kelly Kitchens (Kate), Samara Lerman (Tranio), David Quicksall (Petruchio), Brian Claudio Smith (Lucentio), and John Ulman (Hortensio). Newcomers joining the show are Brenda Joyner (Bianca), Pilar O'Connell (Widow/Phyllis), and Brandon Ryan (Biondello).

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