The Taming of the Shrew in performance reviewers as being extremely physical. Lunt and Fontanne were the most famous celebrity couple of the time, and their backstage fights were rumoured to be just as ferocious as their on-stage performances. So legendary did the tempestuous reputation of the couple become that Cole Porter's 1948 musical "Kiss Me, Kate", about a fiery couple attempting to stage an adaptation of "The Taming of the Shrew", was based on their real-life antics. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the play has been frequently staged all over the world. Some notable productions include: "The Shrew"s popularity on stage has continued
The Taming of the Shrew on screen is mine own" (3.2.231-235) speech; one delivered in an aggressive threatening manner, one in a bawdy sexual manner, directed by Adele Thomas and performed by Eleanor Matsuura and Anthony Howell. In 1980, BBC2 aired an adaptation for their "BBC Television Shakespeare" series, directed by Jonathan Miller and starring Sarah Badel and John Cleese. The casting of Cleese as Petruchio was not without controversy at the time. He had never performed Shakespeare before, was not a fan of the first two seasons of the "BBC Television Shakespeare", and took some persuading from Miller that the BBC "Shrew" would not be, as