New View On The Shrew



Our brand new show ‘Naming The View’ is inspired by ‘TheTaming Of The Shrew’, or at least the rather tricky (nowadays anyway) final speech of Kate.

Naming The View Poster /Flyer front

For anyone unfamiliar with the speech to which I refer, here’s a snippet: “Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper, thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee, And for thy maintenance; commits his body to painful labour both by sea and land, to watch the night in storms, the day in cold, whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe; and craves no other tribute at thy hands but love, fair looks, and true obedience…….”  Ahem!  You see the difficulty any 21st century actor faces in delivering this, and particularly now we are in the age of #MeToo. So rather cleverly, not to say beautifully, the one and only Richard Curnow has written a re-imagining of Katherine (Kate), after 30 years of marriage to Petruchio (Pete). Or perhaps I should say 30 years of walking on eggshells because Pete is, unsurprisingly really when you read that speech in full, the perpetrator of #coercivecontrol.


In June, FINDING THE WILL in association with the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham produced 'Naming The View'. It’s a powerful, moving and thought-provoking script with a good sprinkling of humour and hope too. Richard Curnow performs alongside me, and we have been sensitively directed by Bryn Holding. We received great audience feedback after each performance and also a FOUR STAR **** Review which made us very happy http://stagetalkmagazine.com/?p=18183


Although this is a two-hander there are in fact three characters in the play - Kate, Pete and Horton (Hortensio if you are a ‘Shrew’ aficionado) who has also ‘suffered’ 30 years of a pretty miserable marriage. Both Kate and Horton sit on a bench at the top of Cleeve Hill just outside Cheltenham, gazing at the awesome view and slowly reveal their disappointments, hopes and dreams.  #coercivecontrol features quite heavily in the piece and I’ve found one book in particular is essential research – ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ by Helen Walmsley Johnson – this is an uncomfortable read, but not nearly as uncomfortable as Helen’s real life of course. It’s frank, honest and very brave writing. There are a lot of extremely courageous people out there – men as well as women – willing to tell their stories, some of whom have opened up to me personally. I am immensely grateful to you all and, like Helen (#Namingtheview – funny, sad, life affirming – and sure to make people think. We could always demand a tour #coercivecontrol ) I feel bound to do my utmost to put together a tour and fly the flag for all of you.


With that in mind I am currently on the look out for small to medium venues and Rural Touring Schemes with space available in Spring 2019. All suggestions, recommendations and, needless to say, requests for more information gratefully received!


There is one more chance to catch the show this year at The Pound Arts Centre, Corsham, Wiltshire on Saturday 15 September, otherwise you'll currently have to wait until April when we are taking the show to The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury. If you can't bear the suspense, here's a sneaky peak.........

Hope to see you all soon!

#coercivecontrol - Walking on Eggshells


  • Keenly observed insight
  • Emotive and affecting
  • Touching and funny
  • A clever device
  • Naming The View is riven with humour and hope
  • NAMING THE VIEW – a story of rekindled friendship and healing. Touching and funny, riven with humour and hope ★★★★ Stage Talk Magazine   
"Powerful" "Heartfelt" "Thought-provoking"  "Illuminating"  "Riveting"  "Eye-opening"  "Uplifting"  "Innovative"  "Absolutely bloody amazing!"
                                                    (Audience Reaction)




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