‘Shrew’ opens Friday

Shakespeare play runs 2 weekends in Brookings, Ore.

Shakespeare plays can be seen in Ashland this time of year, but Brookings Harbor Community Theater is bringing one of the Bard’s more famous plays to the coast.

BHCT presents “The Taming of the Shrew” on Friday in the Harbor Performing Arts Center.

The gala starts at 6:30 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres and medieval punch and the performance will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The “Taming of the Shrew” is the story of Katharina, a bright, witty woman surrounded by fools in the male-dominated Italy of the Middle Ages.

Her only recourse is to play the shrew and torment those around her by refusing to be the gentle, obedient daughter that everyone expects.

When fortune-hunter Petruchio very much her intellectual equal, arrives and arranges to marry her, they engage in a wild battle of wits even while falling desperately in love.

Meanwhile little sister Bianca, the apple of her father's eye, inflames the considerable passion of every eligible man in town and attracts would-be husbands everywhere she looks.

Her father won’t let that happen until big sister Kate gets a husband of her own. Deceit and disguise add to the confusion as mistaken identity and misunderstandings collide with entertaining consequences.

Directed by Barbara Holmes,  “The Taming of the Shrew” will run this weekend and next, Friday through Sunday. Friday and Saturday shows start at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission, $9 for seniors and $7 for students. The “Taming of the Shrew” is not recommended for young children.

Tickets can be bought at Wright’s Custom Framing and Supplies in Brookings and New Wave Video in Harbor. Call the theater for more information and reservations. Handicap seating is available, advance reservations suggested by calling (541) 469-4700 or (541) 661-2473.