Men are such babies. In fact, such silly little babies in Phyllida Lloyd's all-female The Taming of the Shrew that they have to be humoured into thinking they are getting their own way. Kathryn Hunter's intelligent but emotionally damaged Katherina is not so much tamed by love as redeemed by it, and Janet McTeer's Petruchio has his world turned upside down by it. He is no longer at the centre of the universe, but a partner in it with Katherina, a woman who knows that there are many ways to keep the peace and still enjoy the war.
Lloyd's production is intriguing, and not just for its all-female casting. All-male productions of Shakespeare often have a heightened erotic charge, and there is something similar here between the bear-like Petruchio and Katherina, who hops about like a wounded, beady-eyed sparrow. Even when Petruchio is at his most foul (and McTeer spares us nothing of his misogyny), you still long for them to get it together.
None the less, there is more than sex to this production. This is an evening very much about growing up and taking your place in the world as an adult. Katherina's behaviour - biting, scratching, tying up her sister - is that of the nursery. Petruchio has become the head of the family following the death of his father, but has not learned to act as one. This Katherina and Petruchio force each other to grow up, while Bianca and Lucentio remain children.
The production sometimes lacks subtlety, but there is some terrific fun in guying the rituals and mannerisms of men, and Hunter and McTeer are astonishing.
· Until September 28. Box office: 020-7401 9919.
