Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Valerie Rachelle

June 19 – September 7, 2024
Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
The bold, spirited, and headstrong Katherina is deemed unworthy of marriage while suitors pursue her younger sister Bianca. Their father refuses to let his younger daughter marry until an appropriate match is made for the elder, which Petruchio accepts as a challenge. However, Katherina will not be tamed so easily. Their dastardly deeds and heated battles hurl this comedy toward its end. And in Petruchio’s journey to make Katherina a compliant and obedient bride, they both learn more about what being an equal partner really means.

Pine Mountain Lodge

November 15th – December 31st 2024

Featuring the classic standards of the 30s and 40s, Pine Mountain Lodge tells the story of a returning World War II vet who’s been tasked with shutting down his late father’s flagging upstate New York hotel, only to discover that the hotel is haunted by two quarreling ghosts, former lovers and famous dance partners. The ghosts put aside past grievances to convince the young man to put on one last show to save the old hotel from bankruptcy.

The Play That Goes Wrong

Called “the funniest play Broadway has ever seen” (Huffington Post), this classic murder mystery by award-winning Mischief is chock-full of mishaps and madcap mania!

Pride and Prejudice

A new adaptation of the novel by Jane Austen

by Kate Hamill
directed by Valerie Rachelle

Finding your perfect match can be daunting and Elizabeth Bennett has no desire to attach herself to anyone, let alone the dashing and infuriating Mr. Darcy. Bold, surprising, and hilarious, Kate Hamill’s highly theatrical adaptation of Jane Austin’s classic tale of latent love is absurdly delightful.

“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve”
—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

"Utah Shakespeare Festival’s “The Taming of the Shrew” is Sharp and Energetic at the Engelstad Shakespeare Theater"

by Elise White

“Director and Choreographer Valerie Rachelle gives a fresh look at this classic comedy, offering an interpretation that resonates with a more modern audience, taking some of the more problematic elements of Shakespeare’s storyline and twisting them simply with onstage physical gestures from the actors while the play’s core elements remain.”

“Instead of only leaving the audience to grapple with gender roles and societal expectations, we are left pondering the definition of selfless love and what it means to truly care for each other.”

“The actors’ physical dramatics and broad gestures, much of which is designed by the director/choreographer Rachelle and fight director Stefan Espinosa effectively complements the director’s vision and adds another layer of depth to the story.”

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The ’80s music and choreography that bed the performance are some of the best parts of “Merry Wives,” thanks to Williams’ collaboration with Composer and Sound Designer Paul James Prendergast and Choreographer Valerie Rachelle.

Maureen Flanagan Battistella

Mail Tribune, Grants Pass Daily Courier

[a] vibrant, five-person show… What emerges from all this is an expansive portrait of Cash’s America, a place of poverty and chance, humor and pathos, sin and redemption… It’s a poet’s vision and Cash was the poet, an American original.

Bill Varble

Medford Mail Tribune