Rebecca Bayla Taichman

Hometown: Port Jefferson, Long Island
Most recent project: The Taming of the Shrew at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

Play you would most like to direct: the list grows every day

What's on your iPod? (mp3, cd player, etc.):
a little bit of everything - from Bach to Talking Heads, Cat Power to La Boheme, Imogen Heap to Wynton Marsalis

Favorite Shakespearean Play:
King Lear (and it will be a while before I've earned directing it)

What do you love about D.C.:
the incredible generosity and intelligence of the audiences

Favorite Shakespearean Villain: Iago

What's next after The Taming of the Shrew: I am directing a brilliant new play by David Adjmi at The Yale Repertory Theater called The Evildoers.

Why did you want to direct this play?It's an eerie, cranky play that's full up with contradictions and ironies. It's at once hilarious and painful. I am interested in how it both critiques and upholds a sexist society, and its vicious portrait of violent and very real love.

What has become your favorite scene in the play and why?I have lots of favorites, but I'd have to say it's somewhere between the wooing scene and the last scene of the play. Both were challenging in the extreme—for very different reasons. The challenge of the last scene is obvious; Kate's speech is profoundly painful and extremely provocative. The wooing scene is just plain sexy fun, and yet difficult to stage. Balancing the heat and wordplay with Kate's extreme vulnerability and locating real love in the ferocity of an argument were terrific challenges.


The set of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Rebecca Bayla Taichman. Set design by Narelle Sissons. Photo by Scott Suchman.