Shakespeare in the Park Returns
with
The Taming of the Shrew
July 2026 will be RCP’s 29th year of Shakespeare in the Park at the Highland Park Bowl!
Beginning Thursday, July 9 through Saturday, July 25, 2026, free performances of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare will fill the park’s stage. This will be the second RCP Shakespeare in the Park production for director Jonathan Lowery. His first was The Merry Wives of Windsor in July 2023.
About the Production
It’s 2015 and The Taming of the Shrew has discovered Instagram! In Padua, the effort to resist external social pressure and instead seek personal authenticity is a difficult challenge. The newly found ability to influence truly massive groups of people online battles against the characters’ ability to connect with those closest to them and discover their own personal happiness. Of course, hijinks and goofy plots abound as well! After all, what is the internet without silly videos and cat memes?
Director’s Notes
The Taming of the Shrew is, at its heart, a play about seeking healthy and authentic relationships. Many aspects of the play are difficult to digest 400 years after its writing, mostly due to the changing concepts of a healthy relationship. RCP’s production aims to adapt this classic play into a format that allows modern audiences to engage with the original intent while shedding as much historical and cultural baggage as possible.
Rochester Premiere!
April 9 – 18, 2026
at the Multi-Use Cultural Community Center (MuCCC)
The second RCP show this year was the Rochester premiere of Wife to James Whelan by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy and directed by Jean Gordon Ryon.
In the small Irish village of Kilbeggan, an ambitious James Whelan lands a prestigious professional opportunity in Dublin. However, leaving the village will separate him from Nan Bowers, the woman he loves, unless she agrees to go with him or wait for his return. As the story unfolds, their relationship after seven years and his eventual return to Kilbeggan is shared. Will they end up together?
Preview article by David Raymond for the Rochester Beacon:
“An Irish discovery from Rochester Community Players“