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Court Theatre announces complete cast and creative team for Marti Lyons' adaptation of
The Taming of the Shrew
November 14 – December 14, 2025
Under the leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, Court Theatre is proud to present William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, adapted and directed by Marti Lyons (with Associate Director Daira Rodriguez). This production will run from November 14 – December 14, 2025 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Welcome to a tale of deception, disguise, and desire. The richest man in town has two daughters and one big problem: he refuses to marry the youngest, Bianca, until the eldest, Katherina, is married first. Much to her family’s dismay, Katherina repeatedly—and violently— rejects the men interested in her and her wealth, and refuses to sacrifice her independence. When a mysterious gentleman enters the mix, suddenly Kate sees that surrender is no sacrifice. Perhaps there is strength in submission.
Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company Marti Lyons turns William Shakespeare’s classic inside out, with a fresh interpretation focused on feminine desire. This is not your standard Shrew.
“I was drawn to adapt The Taming of the Shrew because of its unnerving timeliness,” shares Director and Adaptor Marti Lyons. “It is a piece that brims with contradictions that are urgent and resonant. This complex study of power continues to intrigue even as it provokes. I am thrilled to craft this production at Court Theatre with this superb company of artists, and I cannot wait for audiences to join us on this journey.”
Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman adds: "One of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, The Taming of the Shrew has been reimagined countless times because it invites us to debate vital questions about the complexity of human relationships and gender dynamics. We revere it as a classic precisely because of these complexities and perhaps because we all need a little bit of comic virtuosity to help us navigate ever-challenging times. As the first production of my tenure at Court, I look forward to diving into Shakespeare's canonical battle of wits alongside our audiences.”
The cast of The Taming of the Shrew includes Ryder Dean McDaniel (Tranio/Ensemble); Mark L. Montgomery (Baptista/Petruchio’s Servant/Ensemble); Melisa Soledad Pereyra (Katherina/Ensemble); Nate Santana (Lucentio/Ensemble); Samuel Taylor (Hortensio/Ensemble); Netta Walker (Bianca/Ensemble); Alex Weisman (Grumio/Ensemble); Monica West (Widow/Ensemble); Jay Whittaker (Petruchio/Ensemble); and Dexter Zollifcoffer (Gremio/Ensemble).
The creative team includes Jackie Fox (Scenic Designer): Kotryna Hilko (Costume Designer); Maximo Grano De Oro (Lighting Designer), with Sierra Walker (Associate Lighting Designer); Matthew Chapman (Sound Designer); Ethan Korvne (Composer); Tanya Palmer (Production Dramaturg); Becca McCracken, CSA (Director of Casting and Artist Cultivation), with Celeste M. Cooper (Associate Casting Director); Danny Fender (Production Stage Manager); and Anna Vu (Assistant Stage Manager).
Tickets and subscription packages including The Taming of the Shrew are on sale now, and can be purchased online at CourtTheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472.
Complementing this production, Court is proud to partner with Jenn Freeman/Po’Chop on a presentation of their performance, THICK: a crumbling freak show. This event is free and open to the public, and reservations are highly encouraged. More information and tickets will be available at CourtTheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472.
About the Artists
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (Playwright, 1564–1616) was an English poet and playwright. He is widely considered to be the greatest writer in the English language. He wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets. His early plays were mainly comedies (e.g. Much Ado about Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and histories (e.g. Henry V). By the early seventeenth century, Shakespeare had begun to write plays in the genre of tragedy. These plays— such as Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear—often hinge on some fatal error or flaw in the lead character and provide fascinating insights into the darker aspects of human nature. These later plays are considered Shakespeare’s finest achievements.
MARTI LYONS (Director and Adaptor) is thrilled to return to Court Theatre, where she most recently directed Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?. Other recent credits include the world premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., the world-premiere of Witch by Jen Silverman at Writers Theatre and the subsequent award-winning production at Geffen Playhouse in L.A., Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, her co-adaptation of Cymbeline at American Players Theatre, and ‘ART’ by Yasmina Reza at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, where she is Artistic Director. Lyons is also an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre and a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
RYDER DEAN MCDANIEL (Tranio/Ensemble) is excited to be making his Court Theatre debut! He received his B.A. from Northwestern University in theatre and musical theatre. Recent credits include Hairspray (Uptown Theatre), Disaster! (Big Noise Theatre), Bacchanal (Fowl Players), Throbbin’ Wood (PrideArts), as well as As You Like It, Night Side Songs, and Cock Envy (Northwestern University). He sends a big thank you to this team, his roommates, and family. Represented by Big Mouth Talent and Asteria Artists.
MARK L. MONTGOMERY (Baptista/Petruchio’s Servant/Ensemble) has appeared in Court’s Iphigenia in Aulis, Agamemnon, and M. Butterfly. Chicago credits include Outside Mullingar (Jeff Award nominee – Performer in a Principal Role) and Brooklyn Laundry (Northlight); Camino Real, Stage Kiss, and A Christmas Carol (Goodman); Fascination (About Face); Want, The Time of Your Life, and The Wheel (Steppenwolf); In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) and Equivocation (Victory Gardens); Hedda Gabler and The Letters (Writers). He has also appeared in more than a dozen productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater and recently completed a tour of Julius Caesar throughout France with Théâtre National de Bretagne.
MELISA SOLEDAD PEREYRA (Katherina/Ensemble) is making her Court Theatre debut. Chicago credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare), Blood Wedding (Lookingglass). Broadway credits: A Doll’s House (Hudson Theatre). Regional credits: Anna in the Tropics, The River Bride, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Macbeth, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, among others (American Players Theatre Core Company). Other regional work includes Huntington Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, South Coast Rep, among others. Upcoming television debut on an acclaimed sci-fi series on Apple TV. Represented by Gray Talent Group.
NATE SANTANA (Lucentio/Ensemble) is an Artistic Collective member at Teatro Vista and Creative Producer at Shattered Globe, where he recently directed Lobby Hero. Theatre: Ironbound (Raven Theatre); The Thanksgiving Play, Ironbound (Steppenwolf); The Legend of Georgia McBride, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility (Indiana Repertory); Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet, Short Shakespeare! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare); Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe); Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy (Griffin); The Abuelas, White Tie Ball (Teatro Vista); The Rainmaker (BoHo). Television: Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., Suits, and The Exorcist. He studied at the School at Steppenwolf, the Moscow Art Theatre, and received his B.A. from Valparaiso University.
SAMUEL TAYLOR (Hortensio/Ensemble) returns to Court Theatre, having previously appeared in The Lady from the Sea. He is an Artistic Associate at Lookingglass Theatre. Other Chicago credits include work at Steppenwolf, TimeLine, Redmoon, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He is a Co-Founder of the Back Room Shakespeare Project and author of the book My Life with the Shakespeare Cult. Regional credits include work at American Players Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Syracuse Stage, and the Guthrie Theater. On-camera credits include recurring roles on Boardwalk Empire, Red Line, and Crisis.
NETTA WALKER (Bianca/Ensemble) returns to Court after appearing in The Lion in Winter. Other Chicago credits include: How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens); Yen (Jeff Award – Performer in a Supporting Role, Raven Theatre); Hamlet, The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift); No Child (Definition Theatre); Continuity (Goodman); among many others. Film: Come As You Are, Whole. She played Keisha for three seasons on All American and All American: Homecoming, and has appeared in The Chi, The Big Leap, and Chicago Fire. Her original play keerah is being workshopped by Definition Theatre’s Amplify Festival, and she was selected as the playwright for the Blueprint Commission with First Floor Theater. Proudly represented by Paonessa Talent.
ALEX WEISMAN (Grumio/Ensemble) was previously in The Good Book at Court. Recent Chicago credits: Prayer For the French Republic (Northlight/Theater Wit) and An Act of God (Paramount). He is a two-time Jeff Award winner for The History Boys and Hand to God. Broadway: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (OBC). Select television: Frank on Sesame Street (GLAAD New Media Award), Chicago Fire/Med/P.D., Ted Lasso, New Amsterdam, Empire, Inventing Anna. Film: A Complete Unknown, An Acceptable Loss, and others. Founding stakeholder with Back Room Shakespeare and NU grad.
MONICA WEST (Widow/Ensemble) is making her Court Theatre debut. Chicago credits include Hand to God (Paramount Theatre); The Matchbox Magic Flute, The Music Man (Goodman Theatre); Eastland, Moby Dick (Lookingglass Theatre Company). Off-Broadway: The Glass Menagerie (Roundabout Theatre Company); Red Light Winter (Barrow Street Theatre); Germans in Paris (59E59). International: Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage (Royal Alexandra Theatre). Regional highlights: Guthrie Theater, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Westport Country Playhouse. TV: Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Law & Order, Underemployed. Ms. West is a graduate of Marquette University and an M.F.A. candidate in writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
JAY WHITTAKER (Petruchio/Ensemble) returns to Court Theatre, having previously appeared in The Romance Cycle, Travesties, Cyrano, The Glass Menagerie, and The Wild Duck. Jay has worked at Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Northlight. Off-Broadway: Frank’s Home at Playwrights Horizons and Rose Rage at The Duke on 42nd Street. Regionally: Huntington, Shakespeare Theatre, and the Old Globe. Film: Unexpected Treasures, Gray Matter, Let’s Go to Prison, Death of a President, Dust Clouds, The Sea. Television: The Orville, Scream Queens, Chicago P.D., Prison Break, Early Edition. Jay recently wrote a short film that has premiered at five film festivals, and he is currently producing the feature film.
DEXTER ZOLLICOFFER (Gremio/Ensemble) has appeared at Court Theatre in Our Lan’ (2025 Spotlight Reading Series), The Lady from the Sea, King Hedley II, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and others. Other theatre credits: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Little Foxes, Dartmoor Prison (Goodman); Charm (Jeff Award – Actor in a Principal Role, Northlight); To Kill a Mockingbird, A Lesson Before Dying (Steppenwolf); Relatively Close, Knock Me a Kiss (Victory Gardens); and The Overwhelming (Next). Television and film credits include: Ghostlight, South Side, Joe Pera Talks to You, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Detroit 1-8-7, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, and Who Gets the Dog.
Dates: Previews: November 14 – November 21, 2025
Press Opening: November 22, 2025 at 7:30pm
Regular Run: November 23 – December 14, 2025
Schedule: Wed/Thurs/Fri: 7:30 p.m.
Sat/Sun: 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Accessible ASL Interpretation on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 2:00pm
Performances: Touch Tour on Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 12:30pm
Open Captioning and Audio Description on Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 2:00pm
Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Tickets: $42.00 – $74.00 Previews
$60.00 – $90.00 Regular Run
Student, group, and military discounts available
Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or www.CourtTheatre.org.
Winner of the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Court Theatre reimagines classic theatre to illuminate our current times. In residence at the University of Chicago and on Chicago’s historic South Side, we engage our audiences with intimate and provocative experiences that inspire deeper exploration of the enduring questions that confront humanity and connect us as people.
