The Taming of the Shrew

Locations

28 beautiful outdoor venues

Performances

32 brilliant performances

Tickets

Over 6.5k tickets sold

Year

2025

Our 2025 production was The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare’s comedy battle of wits, wills and wild romance with toe-tapping pop classics.

Photographs by Steve Gregson

Reception

Critical Acclaim

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘The Taming of the Shrew is extremely funny, entertaining, and fantastic for all ages. Once again this year, the director, production team, and actors, have done a wonderful job.’

– London Theatre Reviews

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘It’s hard to think of a better way to spend a summer evening.’

– A Young(ish) Perspective

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Their 2025 season is another triumph’

– The Reviews Hub

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘It’s the perfect way for all ages to spend a summer evening outside. Shakespeare in the Squares have created a fantastic production’

– Broadway World

‘We really enjoyed the Shakespeare in the Square performance in Mitcham. A fresh interpretation, at a pleasant venue, helped by brilliant weather. A very happy evening.’

– Audience member, Canons House & Grounds

‘This evening was a total triumph in all respects. The audience loved it. The children enthralled. It was a pleasure to experience the performance & also to see the audience reaction. The spirit in the garden was wonderful. We were awash with the happiness of others (& ourselves).’

– Audience member, Kensington Gardens Square

‘An inventive and witty rendering of the Shrew full of clever ideas, joyful music, and excellent ensemble acting. A modern take on a difficult theme meant we group of ladies left with a smile on our faces.’

– Audience member, Leinster Square

‘Brilliant actors, great production – it was so much fun. Thank you for creating something that was truly joyful – it really lifted my spirits’

– Audience member, Cleveland Square

‘A performance which affirmed all the more that Shakespeare in the Squares have made it their own, this lively, joyous, effervescently musical way of presenting Shakespeare’s comedies beneath the majestic trees of London’s glorious garden squares. Truly a rare delight.’

– Audience member, Connaught Square

‘The music was joyful and the verse speaking was very good and completely audible which is no small feat that close the Covent Garden piazza . It is also no small feat to make what can be a problematic play so much fun. I loved being back in that lovely secret garden – and it was beautifully shady on a very hot evening . So 10 out of 10 from us!’

– Audience member, The Actors’ Church Garden

Actors

Cast

Lee Drage

Hortensio / Gabriel

Lee trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Theatre credits include Shakespeare in the Squares’ Twelfth Night and All’s Well That Ends Well, The Sound of Music (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Threepenny Opera (Minack Theatre), Aloe Aloe (Bush Theatre), The Spanish Tragedy (Old Red Lion), Chariots of Fire (Gielgud, West End), Oh What A Lovely War (UK tour), The Water Engine (Old Vic Tunnels), The Hot Mikado (Watermill Theatre), Saturday Night (Jermyn St Theatre). Television credits include Silo (Apple TV). As a comedian, he has performed at VAULT festival, Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for an Off West End Award for his show Shit Samaritans.

Paddy Duff

Lucentio / Sugarsop

Paddy Duff is a Scottish Actor from Aberdeenshire. Stage credits include Romeo & Juliet (International Tour), The Mousetrap (West End), Pygmalion (Actors’ Church) and Stickman (UK tour). Screen credits include Outlander and the BBC’s Doctors.

John Holt-Roberts

Gremio / Walter / Widow

John trained at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. Stage credits include Welfare, A Christmas Carol, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood and The Major Oak (Derby Theatre), Cinderella (Chester Storyhouse), Twelfth Night (JLA Productions), The Gingerbread Man (Hiccup Theatre, National Tour), Troupers/ Till the Cows Come Home (Mikron Theatre, National Tour) The Dinner (Lamphouse Theatre/Switch Festival). Film credits include Father Christmas is Back (MSR Media) and Zomblogalypse (One and Other Creative). John has performed extensively across the country with the band Hyde Family Jam.

Nikita Johal

Bianca / Curtis

Nikita trained at Performance Preparation Academy in Musical Theatre. Credits include Now That’s What I Call A Musical (UK Tour), Princess Caraboo (Finborough Theatre), Children Of Eden (Union Theatre), Spring Awakening (Hope Mill Theatre), The Snow Queen (The Everyman), Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Other Palace & Beittidine Festival), Sleeping Beauty (Watford Palace Theatre), Aladdin (Newbury Corn Exchange), What The Ladybird Heard (The Palace, West End & UK Tour), Migrations (Welsh National Opera UK Tour), The Wife Of Willesden (The Kiln & Boston/New York), Henry V, The Canterbury Tales (Guildford Shakespeare Company), The Invincibles (Queens Theatre Hornchurch & The New Wolsey), Jack & The Beanstalk (Evolution Pantomimes), Frankie Goes To Bollywood (UK Tour & Southbank transfer).

Roddy Lynch

Petruchio

Roddy trained at Rose Bruford College (BA Actor Musicianship). Theatre Credits include Macbeth (Victoria Theatre Singapore / Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts), Kinky Boots (Storyhouse Chester), Romeo & Juliet (Victoria Theatre Singapore / Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts), Upstart! Shakespeare’s Rebel Daughter Judith (Edinburgh Fringe / Gilded Balloon), Rapunzel (Watermill Theatre), What the Ladybird Heard (The Palace Theatre, West End), A Christmas Carol (The Egg / Theatre Royal Bath), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Garden Shakespeare Company).

Elizabeth Marsh

Baptista / Tailor

Elizabeth has performed at the National Theatre, in the West End, on tour and at regional theatres all around the country. Some of her favourite roles include Jenny in The Threepenny Opera, Yitzak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mme Giry in Phantom of the Opera, Fay in Iron, Klytaimestra in Elektra, Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Eleanor in Dead Funny, Mary in Merrily We Roll Along, Annie Wilkes in Misery, and Beverley in Abigail’s Party (twice!). She also works in TV and film, most recently in The Chelsea Detective. She is delighted to be working with Shakespeare in the Squares again after playing the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet in 2017.

Kalifa Taylor

Tranio

Kalifa’s credits include Look Who’s All Grown Up (Space Theatre); Selected Recordings of Us (Space Theatre); Money Heist: The Experience; The Gunpowder Plot Immersive Experience (Historic Royal Palaces and Layered Reality); Hamlet (Southwark Playhouse); War Inside (Vaults Festival); Laura and Sophia (The Lion and Unicorn); Feel More X Lately (The Lion and Unicorn); 1000 Ways the World Will End (& How It Starts Again) (The King’s Head); Noises Off! (Theatre Royal Haymarket); All’s Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare in the Squares); A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story (Birmingham Rep). Kalifa was nominated for an Off West End Award for her performance as Helena in last year’s All’s Well That Ends Well.

Sasha Wilson

Katherina

Sasha is a Bulgarian-American LAMDA-trained actor. Her recent credits include The Brief Life and Mysterious Death of Boris III King of Bulgaria (Giovanna, Liliana Panitsa, Dannecker), Noises Off (Belinda), The Mechanicals Present: Julius Caesar or Macbeth (Brutus/Macbeth) and The Tempest (Sebastia/Trincula). She founded Out Of The Forest Theatre in 2017, an ensemble based theatre company that takes misremembered or forgotten stories from history, sets them to folk music and tells them through a lens to better understand today.

Behind the Scenes

Crew & Creatives

Toby Gordon

Director

Toby is an actor and theatre maker from York. Toby trained at LAMDA. His theatre credits include Small Change (Omnibus Theatre); The Wolf of Wall Street and The Great Gatsby (Hartshorn Hook); York Mystery Plays (York Minster); Antigone (Barbican). Toby performed in Shakespeare in The Squares’ Twelfth Night as the Duke Orsino / Sir Toby Belch and as Parolles / Assistant Director for All’s Well That Ends Well.

Francesca Gregson

Executive Producer / Marketing

Francesca is the founder of Distrikt Communications, a London-based PR and marketing agency. Distrikt works with a range of creative clients, including architectural practices, theatre companies and arts festivals, and is dedicated to promoting the best of London’s cultural activities and events. Francesca joined Shakespeare in the Squares as Marketing Manager for The Tempest (2022) and became Executive Producer for Twelfth Night (2023).

Alex Pearson

Executive Producer

Alex is an experienced Director and Producer, who has worked at a large number of venues throughout London and the rest of the country, on a multitude of different productions, including plays, musicals and operas. Alex has a passion for Shakespeare, and is progressively working through his entire canon, either as Assistant Director or Director. Alex joined Shakespeare in the Squares as Assistant Director for The Tempest (2022) and became Executive Producer for Twelfth Night (2023).

Sylvie Lefebver

Assistant Stage Manager / Wardrobe Assistant

Sylvie’s interest in costume began at the age of 12, making regency military uniforms and womenswear. She moved to the UK to study Historical Costume Design at Arts University Bournemouth. She started her career with a summer in Italy, as Deputy Head of Wardrobe for La Musica Lyrica, working on Sour Angelica, Falstaff and Le Nozze di Figaro. She has since worked on Antony and Cleopatra at Shakespeare’s Globe and on events for Warburton Costumes and Cirque Bijou.

Charlotte Benedict

Movement Director

Charlotte is a movement director from York. Her recent credits include Sleep Pirates (2022) and A Midsummer Night’s Mischief (2023) for Hoglets Theatre Company, as well as Choreographer for the York Maze summer seasons (2023–2025) and Hallowscream Stage Shows (2023–2025). Charlotte is delighted to be bringing her passion for storytelling through movement to this vibrant production.

Kathryn Corlett

Graphic Designer & Illustrator

Kathryn is a Graphic Designer and Illustrator,
this is her fifth year creating bespoke, theme
specific designs for the Shakespeare in the
Squares productions. She studied Graphic Design at Falmouth College of Arts and has 19 years experience as a professional designer, working on a broad range of projects including marketing, book, exhibition and brand design.

Annemarie Lewis Thomas

Musical Director

Credits include Sleeping Beauty (Watersmeet), Crazy Coqs Presents, West End at the Life Cafe, Oliver (Wycombe Swan), Elephant and Piggie’s We Are In A Play (Perform in the Park), Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Squares), Don’t Tell The Bishop (Actors’ Church), Misleading Ladies (Cornerstone, Cardiff), Billie The Kid (Workshop & West End concert), The Wizard of Poz (2 Brewers), The Greater Game (Southwark Playhouse), Home for Christmas (Grand Theatre, Swansea), From Up Here (Trafalgar Studios), Annie (No 1 tour), Black Eyed Susan (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), Rent (Olympia Theatre Dublin) UK premieres of Victor/Victoria (Bridewell), The Ultimate Man (Bridewell), Reefer Madness (Bridewell) and Naked Boys Singing (Madam JoJos), the London premiere of Calamity Jane (BAC). Annemarie has also composed for many shows and was the Founder & Principal of the multi-award winning drama college, The MTA, 2009 – 2022.

John Huyton

Company Stage Manager

John trained at The Drama Centre London and has worked as Company Manager on numerous UK Tours and West End productions. John has worked with producers Sonia Friedman, Michael Harrison & Kenny Wax, Cameron Mackintosh, The Ambassador Theatre Group and PW Productions Ltd, on productions directed by Trevor Nunn, Lindsey Posner, Robin Herford, Simon Callow and Craig Revell Horwood. Shows have featured well known actors such as Brian Cox, Patrick Stewart, Dame Diana Rigg, Zoe Wannamaker, Dominic West, Simon Callow, Joanna Lumley, Sinead Cusack and Rufus Sewell.

Bethany Fulcher

Stage Manager

Bethany trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked on a range of plays and musicals across the UK. Her theatre credits include Blood Brothers (Bill Kenwright Limited), Never Let Me Go & Glass Menagerie (Rose Theatre), Kin (Factory Playhouse Productions), Quiet Rebels (Vital Xposure) and Soon & Pilot (Eclipse Theatre) at Edinburgh Fringe festival. This is Bethany’s third year with Shakespeare in the Squares.

Helen Parkin-Moore

Assistant Stage Manager

Helen trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Theatre includes This is Not a Happy Room (King’s Head Theatre), The Lonely Londoners (Kiln Theatre), The Forsyte Saga (Park Theatre), The Barber of Seville (Waterperry Opera Festival), Into The Woods (Royal Academy of Music), Succession Theme is My Ringtone (Rose Theatre), Peter Pan (Rose Theatre), A Single Man (Park Theatre), Follies, Beauty and the Beast, Curtains (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama).

Jane Frisby

Casting Director

Jane previously cast The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and last year’s All’s Well That Ends Well, directed by Sioned Jones, with whom she also collaborated on the company’s first Winter Tour of Macbeth. She has worked extensively with the National Film and Television School and on numerous graduation short films for the London Film School. Her credits include a range of feature films, from Hear My Song (1991) to Interview With a Hitman and Jellyfish.

Martin Neild

Founder Producer

Martin worked in publishing for over thirty years. He worked for Macmillan in Australia,Africa and London and became Chief Executive of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers in 1993. He is Co-Chair of the Oxford School of Drama and a trustee of the Michael Cuddigan Trust which gives grants to young composers. He is a regular and passionate theatregoer.

Sue Fletcher

Founder Producer

Sue had a forty-year career in book publishing, including as co-founder of Headline and Deputy MD of Hodder & Stoughton. She has an MA in Theatre and Performance from Queen Mary, University of London, and in 2011 was one of the judges for the Olivier Awards. She goes to the theatre three or four times a week and remains captivated by the magic of live performance.

Emily Stuart

Designer

Emily is an award-winning costume designer living and working in London. Previous credits for Shakespeare in the Squares are All’s Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing. She was shortlisted for the 2025 UK Pantomime Awards for her costumes for Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre, Chipping Norton) and regularly works with Sweet Charity (Glastonbury Festival).

Colette Robinson-Collcutt

Costume Supervisor

Colette is a costume supervisor and costume maker based in London. Her work has been seen in many Fringe and West End shows. Recent credits include Wardrobe Assistant on Othello (Shakespeare’s Globe), Head of Wardrobe for Wishmas (Secret Cinema), Wardrobe assistant on Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe). Previous Shakespeare in the Square credits as costume supervisor: Macbeth (2024), All’s Well That Ends Well (2024), Twelfth Night (2023), The Tempest (2022).

Bella Chapman

Assistant Director / Intimacy Coordinator

Bella recently graduated from Durham University with a degree in English Literature. Bella has a background in directing, intimacy coordination/ direction and acting. She was the Co-President of Fourth Wall Theatre Company, with which she directed Fiji, which went on to win the Palatinate Award 2023 (best Durham University show of the year; over 100+ plays and musicals). Other notable experiences include her playing Shay (lead female) in the sell-out, critically acclaimed play May Contain Traces of Nuts at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was named Best Ensemble Performance (Theatre Weekly) and received multiple five-star reviews. Bella’s passion for intersectional feminism has been, and continues to be, a driving force in her creative work.

Eleanor Lloyd

Press

Eleanor is the Communications Manager of Distrikt Communications. She has a BA in English Literature and Language and an MA in Media and Creative Industries from Loughborough University. As a keen theatre-goer, she is delighted to be a part of the Shakespeare in the Squares team.