Taming of the Shrew: The final Tableau at Daly's Theatre, 1893. See previous images of Ada Rehan and George Clarke.

"Mr. Daly's charming theatre in Cranbourne Street as opened on Tuesday and the audience, which included Lord and Lady Salisbury, and filled every seat, expressed themselves delighted with the arrangements for their accommodation. The decorations were very effective, there is ample provision for the requirements of visitors during the intervals, and there are no fees for programmes or cloak room. It was wisely decided to commence the season with 'Taming of the Shrew,' and Miss Ada Rehan, whose representation of the principal role is so well known and so intensely admired in London, was received with a burst of hearty applause when she appeared on stage as Katharine. She has never been seen to greater advantage; her performance was not marred by a single blemish. Miss Rehan is ably supported by Mr. George Clarke as Petruchio, by Mr. Lewis as Grumio, and by Mrs. Gilbert as Curtis, the servant. Mr. Henry Loraine, a popular English actor, successfully undertook the part of Baptista. The piece is admirably mounted." From our London Correspondent, The Yorkshire Herald, July 1, 1893: 19th C. British Library Newspapers.

This scene typifies Victorian elaborate staging. It seems to be based on Veronese's notoriously extravagant painting The Feast at Cana, also dealing with a wedding. This is the complex group which Katherina totally dominates in the play's conclusion. Courtesy of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Collection at http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/the/the.html