The Winter’s Tale

The Winter’s Tale is a challenging play. Commonly known as one of Shakepeare’s problem plays, it
sits uneasily between comedy and tragedy, it’s wild experimentation with form and genre making it
deeply flawed. The sudden flip from psychological drama to pastoral comedy at the end of the first
act almost feels as if two different shows have been loosely linked together, and Julie Weston’s
choice to not fight against this disparity in her direction of the Southside Players produces some
interesting theatrical results. The first act is presented as a straightforward tragedy. Leontes, King of Sicilia, suspects his wife,
Hermione, of having an affair with Polixines, King of Bohemia and a guest in Leontes’ court. He tries
to kill Polixines, who flees, and imprisons Hermione for treason, and banishes his newly-born
daughter to a far away land. Only realising his mistake when his wife’s death starts fulfilling the
prophecy of the Delphic oracle. It is a dense act, full of restraint and tension, and the actors had to
work hard, sometimes getting bogged down by the language, sometimes hurting the pace with slow
entrance cues. Roderick Murray presents Leontes as a tyrannical king tortured by paranoia. The director’s vision of
Sicilia was a court gripped by “social constraints and rigid cultural mores”, but Leontes, at times,
seemed more petulant than authoritative and this had a tendency to weaken the more highly-charged
moments. It is contrasted by Michael Rossi’s portrayal of Polixenes, Leonte’s counterpart as the king
of Bohemia, and innocent victim of Leontes’ paranoia. Rossi brings a benevolent bearing to his
equally authoritarian king, and his graceful mastery of the text is one of the highlights of the show. Kerry Clarke, as Hermione, is wonderful in her role, finding just the right balance of vulnerability and
dignity. She is ably supported by Stephanie McKinley as Paulina, who presented the difficult verse
with ease and clarity. Antigonus’ (Bruce Bartrup) “Exit, pursued by a bear” is the most famous stage
direction of this (and possibly any) play, and is here portrayed with a white, silk sheet that forms the
shape of a bear, and drags him off. This tactic seems to have been inspired by an RSC production, but
didn’t quite work on this night. This surreal, surprise mauling intends to mark the abrupt shift into
comedy, but it may not have gotten the laughs that it was hoping for in this production. The comedic half of the play is set in Bohemia sixteen years later, and focuses on the love between
Polixines’ son, Florizel, and Perdita, the abandoned child of Leontes, raised by a Shepherd and
Clown, her son. This second act fares better with the audience, filled with a renewed life and energy
as it presents a society that has liberated itself with a revolution of youth, fighting off the conservative
ideas of patriarchal control. It also has a clown. Three to be exact. James Pritchard as the Clown, Barbara Barnes as the Shepherd,
and Kate Parry as Autolycus drag the play kicking and screaming into the realms of comedy with
exuberant, amazingly physical performances and are easily the highlights of the play. They win us
over quickly with their verbal agility and, as the mood lightens, Weston starts having fun with the
play’s loose form, which includes some very nice musical scenes accompanied by guitarist Giles
Read. Esther Batterbee and Leigh Crocombe have wonderful chemistry as the young lovers, which
imbues their characters with depth and believability. The happy ending, in which Leontes is presented
with a statue of his wife, while unsatisfying narratively, is a lovely piece of live performance in it’s
own right and all involved should be proud of themselves for creating that particular captivating
moment. John Bush’s set design and Michael Rossi’s lighting were simple, elegant and easily adjustable to
show the two different worlds of The Winter’s Tale. The Southside Players have some great talent
both on and off stage and it will be interesting to see what they do with their next play: Dangerous
Corner by J.B. Priestley. Keep an eye out for it!

• Type: admin
• Performance Date: 25/02/2011
• Star rating: 12345