The Taming of the Shrew, one of William Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, is not without its faults. In his attempt to balance the sexes – in the battle of wits between wife and husband Kate and Petruchio – Shakespeare’s work has been criticized for having ended on the humiliation of the wife, without exacting any further humiliation, or balance at all, with the husband.

The criticism has endured since the initial unveiling of Shrew, when John Fletcher created his own response to the production with his own, less flawed play, The Woman’s Prize, or the Tamer Tamed, which premiered during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. Fletcher’s play uses the same characters and addresses a more refined finality to the story of Kate and Petruchio.

Now, while productions of both plays have been conducted in their entirety, back-to-back, in the past (most notably before the court of Charles I in 1633), never before have the productions been staged as one full play, using half of Shakespeare’s Shrew, and half of Fletcher’s production. Not until Bag&Baggage Productions and Artistic Director Scott Palmer decided to get their hands dirty. This is the first time the plays have been shown in this fashion in American history.

The tandem production premiered on Friday, February 12th, but the play runs Thursdays-Sundays until February 28th. Tickets are $18-23. Productions stage at 7:30 p.m. in the evening, and there is also a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.

The Taming of the Shrew/The Woman’s Prize is being staged at The Venetian Theatre (253 East Main Street) in Hillsboro. To purchase tickets, go online to www.bagnbaggage.org, or call 503-516-4840.

PLUS: Gay/Lesbian Audience Night is Thursday Feb 18th!