William Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ gets a feminist Nairobi makeover [Courtesy]
William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is being reimagined as a two-hander, which follows Katherina Minola refusing to be tamed by Petruchio.
Katherina is sharp, fiercely independent and unwilling to be the obedient woman society expects her to be. Petruchio enters her life determined to tame her. The play explores themes of women's agency, power, identity, love and control.
Presented by Musyi Arts, the adaptation stars Rita Gitau and Charles Gachanja and will be staged on August 7 and 8 at Suave Kitchen & Social Club in Westlands, Nairobi. It was adapted by playwright and director Esther Kamba and Gitau.
The play examines what happens when a woman who refuses to be controlled meets a man who refuses to back down. It uses a boxing-ring concept to turn the performance space into a confined arena where Katherina and Petruchio are in a power tussle. Their arguments are loud and confrontational, but they also recognise something of themselves in each other.
