After an ebullient global gathering, the Shrew comes to Beijing on the heel of the Olympics’. Shakespeare's classic The Taming of the Shrew will be on stage at the National Center for the Performing Arts from October 16 to 18.

The Taming of the Shrew is one of the most well-known comedies written by William Shakespeare. In a comedic style, he explored the serious subject of gender relations and the value of love and money. Behind the lively scenes lies the rich color of caring about human destiny and inter-human relations during the Renaissance.

The Taming of the Shrew staged by the British TNT Theatre is humorous, sharp and faithful to the original work. The unique Shakespearean dialogue, the harmless sex-related jokes and the typical English humor make the whole play full of joy. The play begins with a play. After the curtain opens, a drunkard falls into sleep while murmuring about football. In the dream, he witnesses the taming of a shrew. Accordingly, the "taming" of females by males during the Shakespearean age becomes a dream of the drunkard in modern times.

The play also inherits the established style of the TNT Theatre and uses live music. The five-part chorus created by famous Scotch composer John Kenny for the play and accompanied by plucked string instruments, clarinets and percussion instruments turns the play into a rich musical.

According to the director of the show Paul Stebbings, The Taming of the Shrew is a direct comedy discussing the ancient theme as the relations between man and woman. The enthusiasm, vitality and independence of Kate have been shocking countless audiences for centuries, however, the shame she suffers and her final submission confuses and annoys female audiences. Therefore, many modern versions of The Taming of the Shrew try to weaken or even eliminate the element of male chauvinism in the drama. But in Paul’s opinion, the reason why The Taming of the Shrew is so unique is that it expresses the period in which inequality exists between man and woman. Although Shakespeare thinks man is superior to woman due to the limit of the period, he compassionately sneers at the stupidity and greed of man. In his creation, he reserves the taunt and humor of Shakespeare but keeps away from the thought that man is superior to women -- not to weaken the machismo in the drama but perform it to the hilt to expose the period of Shakespeare.

Established in 1980, the British TNT Theatre is a world-class troupe noted for international performing tours. It is an English troupe that not only is popular in Britain but also has toured a record number of countries and staged a record number of performances. The theatre began to create and stage the Shakespearean series in 2000, including Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew. So far, more than 1,000 performances have been staged in more than 20 countries around the world.