THIS early Shakespeare comedy presents considerable obstacles for a modern audience, not least because the main theme deals with the most unpleasant breaking of a young woman's spirit.
Methods deployed include sleep deprivation, starvation and psychological warfare.
This excellent LADS production partly overcomes these difficulties because of the way Petruchio is portrayed by that most accomplished actor, Darren Skinner.
This Petruchio is slightly clownish and half-manic, so that his measures to break Katherina can seem more outlandish than brutal.
Hannah Davies plays Kate to perfection. She is not so much a "shrew" as a young woman who is angry because she is anxious about the future that powerful men will map out for her.
The delivery of blank verse throughout was fluid and sensitive, a credit to director Philip Franklin.Players worthy of special praise include Ed Burton as a saturnine Lucentio and Mark Llewellin as a hapless, ageing suitor and tutor.
LADS deserve full audiences for this marvellous and brave production.
Tickets are available from Ledbury Tourist Information Centre and the final shows are tonight (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday).
GARY BILLS-GEDDES
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