The Taming of the Shrew

Shakespeare will be in the park once again in Lethbridge this summer.

The Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society will be putting on a special 60’s themed version of The Taming of the Shrew.

The play will be located at Galt Gardens throughout the month of July.

Kate Connolly, the president of the group told us what we can expect.

“Well, we have a very creative young director this year and he is from Winnipeg. His name is Jesse Thibert, and he chose the play. We usually- we give our directors a short list of three plays to choose from every year. He chose The Taming of the Shrew, knowing that it can be seen as, quote, a problem play because of some of the misogyny in it. But he is directing it very sensitively and he decided to set it in British Columbia in the 1960s. So actually, most of the action takes place in Nanaimo instead of in 17th century Italy.”

The society has been performing in Lethbridge since 2012 and Connolly told us the city gives the group a third of their funding to be able to operate.

“Another third is from private donors, most especially Young Insurance Agency, who are just on the edge of the downtown area here. They’re always very generous with their funding for the arts. The third amount comes from audience donations and also from payments that we are made when we go further afield.”

Connolly says there are around 13 to 15 actors that help put on the play. They’re all taken as graduates from the University of Lethbridge Theatre program or from the community theatre within Lethbridge.

The society is also looking for directors for next year to apply by the end of August.

For more information on dates for The Taming of the Shrew you can visit http://lethbridgeshakespeare.ca/