An innovative open-air production of William Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew will be performed in Museum Gardens, York, this weekend, by students from the University of York's Drama Society.

This will be the first student drama production to be staged in Museum Gardens, and curator John Howard has been delighted to accommodate the students. "I hope students and members of the public will benefit from seeing the play in such a superb setting," he says. "Performances of this kind are well suited to the gardens, as the success of the Mystery Plays has proved, and I hope this will pave the way for more productions."

Kathy Lawson, a second-year English Literature student at the university, who is directing the play, echoes Howard's enthusiasm for the venture: "It is a wonderful and challenging opportunity to be able to perform to a public audience, who will undoubtedly be less accepting than a student crowd. I am very grateful to Paul for his help in the organisation of this venture."

The Taming of the Shrew is the humorous and often shocking account of sisters Katherina and Bianca's courtships with their roguish suitors, Petruchio, Gremio, Hortension and Lucentio.

Describing her motivation for choosing the play, Lawson says: "Although it is rarely performed, I think it is one of Shakespeare's most comic works, and I felt the flexibility of the play lent itself well to an outdoor performance."

She promises a "really fun" adaptation. "It's not at all serious. It's really colourful and bright and I hope the audience will gain as much enjoyment in the watching as we have in the directing and playing," she says.

Aware of the charges of misogyny against the play, Lawson has chosen to play down the harsh treatment of the women and concentrate on its comic, and sometimes farcical, elements. "We have tried to make our performance as light hearted as possible because we want to entertain, rather than enforce a view of misogyny we certainly don't share," she says.

The Taming Of The Shrew will be staged tonight and tomorrow at 7pm, by the ruins of St Mary's Abbey, and audience members are advised to bring some form of seating. Tickets will be available on the gate at £4, concessions £3.50.