“The Winter’s Tale”

Posted by Gail M. Burns - July 2010

“Herimone is chaste; Polixenes blameless; Camillo a true subject; Leontes a jealous tyrant; his innocent babe truly begotten; and the king shall live without an heir if that which is lost be not found.”

- William Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale, Act III, scene ii

So speaks the Oracle of Delphi, and that’s really all you need to know about The Winter’s Tale, which has the most convoluted and outlandish plot of any of Shakspeare’s works. The first three acts are the most profound psychological drama and tragedy, right up until the faithful courtier Antigonus is pursued and eaten by a bear*, after which there is much rustic merriment involving clowns, thieves, shepherds, and lusty wenches. Then, following a true deus ex machina miracle in Act V, everyone lives happily ever after. Except Antigonus, who really and truly is eaten by a bear, and little Prince Mamillius, who is mourned up to the final curtain.

I think that I have always liked The Winter’s Tale because it spoke so eloquently to the plight of women. While Herminone (Elizabeth Aspenlieder) is the daughter of a King, the wife of a King, and apparently, until the end of Act III, the mother of one too, she is absolutely at the mercy of her husband Leontes, King of Sicily (Jonathan Epstein). He tells her to invite his life-long friend Polixenes, King of Bohemia (Johnny Lee Davenport), to extend his visit with them, and she obeys. In observing them together he is suddenly gripped with a violent jealous and the conviction that they are and have been lovers and that the child Hermione is carrying is Polixenes’, not his. He has her jailed, takes the daughter she delivers from her, and refuses to accept any evidence of her innocence at her trial, where he acts as judge and jury.

There is a theory that The Winter’s Tale was a veiled retelling of the fate of Anne Boleyn, the second of King Henry VIII’s eight wives and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), who was charged with adultery and beheaded in 1536 and therefore fresh in the public consciousness. While there are certainly parallels, many other noblewomen suffered similar fates at their husband’s hands. Times have not changed much since even in these “enlightened” feminist times in America a woman is far more likely to be killed by her husband or boyfriend than by any other family member, acquaintance, or stranger.

I am pleased to see that Director Kevin G. Coleman** refers to The Winter’s Tale (c. 1610/11) as one of Shakespeare’s Romances, rather than one of his Problem Plays. Kevin Coleman and I are of an age, and I was certainly educated to refer to them that way. While certainly the Bard’s later works – Cymbeline, Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest – can be categorized as neither comedy, tragedy, or history, I still find them more romantic than problematic, and they remain some of my very favorite works.

Kevin Coleman has assembled a fine cast of Shakespeare & Company stalwarts, newer members, a couple of newcomers, and two local third-grade boys – Parker Bell-Devaney and Colin Young – who share the role of Prince Mamillius. (I have no idea which one of these boys I saw on the evening of July 23, but he was terrific!) The stars of the show are Aspenlieder and Epstein, who present astonishingly vivid and honest portrayals of these difficult characters. It is wonderful to see Epstein back on the Founders’ Theatre stage, and nice to see Aspenlieder in a dramatic role again in the midst of her highly successful career as the Berkshires’ leading comedienne.

There is a very specific physical and emotional pain that follows childbirth during a time of deep stress and loss, and Aspenlieder, who is not a mother in real life, has obviously received good advice from women who have walked this painful road because watching her on stage during the trial scene immediately transported me back 27 years to my own experience. Yes, that is how I walked and breathed and sat. Watching Epstein’s Leontes walled in his own rage and suffering yet deeply affected by his wife’s pain as well make this scene harrowing and riveting to watch.

But fear not! Very soon all this suffering will be at an end and the revels will begin. There is no more schizophrenic show in Shakespeare’s canon. Almost immediately after Herimone’s collapse in the courtroom Epstein clearly shows us the clouds of jealousy and anger parting in Leontes mind as reason returns. We then see Antigonus (Scott Renzoni – and actor who interests me more every time I see him) on the coast of Bohemia, buffeted by the savage storm that is metaphoric of Apollo’s rage at Leontes, leaving the infant Perdita (played at this point by a bundle of fabric) to her fate and then…exit, pursued by a bear.

I have seen a variety of attempts at stage bears in my day, and Kevin Coleman’s decision to use a projected shadow of a bear’s head along with an amplified roar and snarl is as good as any. The powers of nature are instantly appeased by Antigonus’ and all the tension and tragedy evaporate as The Winter’s Tale transforms into a rustic comedy. Malcolm Ingram and Wolfe Coleman enter as the Shepherd and his son – a character Shakespeare dubs “Clown” and who is listed in the program as simply “Young Shepherd” – who find and adopt Perdita, and the laughter commences.

I have seen productions where intermission is placed in the middle of Shakespeare’s third act when the bear attacks, meaning that from the audience’s perspective the first half is all tragedy and the second is all comedy. This may make sense to the creative team immersed in this play, but audiences are notoriously stupid and if you give them no hint of the fun to come those among them who have had enough of the anger and injustice may just decide to call it a night. Kevin Coleman wisely trusts Shakespeare, and allows Act II to reach its comic conclusion before bringing up the houselights on an audience with an appetite already whetted for the ensuing fun.

And in Act IV, which is set 16 years later, he brings it on is spades. Ingram and Wolfe Coleman are hilarious in the rustic clown roles. Jason Asprey assays the humor and song of Autolycus, one of Shakespeare’s great rouges. Davenport’s Polixenes and Josh Aaron McCabe as his side-kick Camillo don Jed Clampett hats and Groucho glasses to infiltrate that revelry that is Florizel (Ryan Winkles) and Perdita’s (Kelly Galvin) wedding. I have to say, it is quite the wild affair! Dana Harrison as Mopsa and Leia Espericueta as Dorcas, country wenches who are rivals for Wolfe Coleman’s affections, prove themselves fearless physical comics as they hurl themselves into jealous catfights that make Alexis and Krystle’s famous 1980’s TV tussels on Dynasty look like polite disagreements. (Kevin Coleman and Winkles are responsible for the fight choreograpjy.)

Not to be outdone, the entire male contingent of rustics dress themselves up in animal skins and do a most peculiar dance, choreographed by Susan Dibble. Imagine what it was like back in those days when a party wasn’t complete until every man in the village had made an ass of himself.

Of course Polixenes will not have his only son and heir marrying a shepherd’s daughter, no matter how beautiful, graceful, and genteel she may be, and he brings the nuptials to an abrupt end by unmasking himself and forbidding the marriage. With Camillo’s help Florizel and Perdita flee to Sicily, where soon it is discovered that Perdita is Leontes’ long-lost daughter and therefore a suitable mate for Florizel, and Paulina (the excellent Corinna May) takes everyone to see the lovely statute of Hermione that she had commissioned…

Needless to say I was once again made happy by a play in which the love and fidelity of a middle-aged married couple defeated the forces of evil – here embodied by the human passions of jealously and anger – enabling a happy ending. It also warmed the cockles of my heart to see Asprey, son Tina Packer, Shakespeare & Company’s Founding Artistic Director, and Wolfe Coleman – the spitting image of his father, also a founding member of the Company, who I have seen play memorable clown roles – share a scene together. Of course a healthy theatre company does not depend on the talent of the off-spring of its founding members to survive, but it is nice to see two second-generation members of the company disport themselves so well.

This is a great production of a complex and challenging play, but there were two things that bothered me no end. I understand that this is a fantasy play, but still, you tend to believe what your eyes tell you. Epstein and Aspenlieder are white. Davenport is black. Therefore when Leontes suspects Hermione’s baby is Polixenes, it seems logical that the race of the father will be obvious once the child is born, but no, Leontes squints at that little log-shaped lump of cloth presented to him as his daughter, which everyone in the room says looks just like him, and proclaims her a bastard. Then in Act IV we are introduced to Polixenes’ only child and heir, Florizel, and he’s white. That was the point at which I realized that I was supposed to suspend disbelief and promptly did so.

I was also driven crazy by the fact that Kara D. Midlam’s costumes clearly set the action in Europe around the turn of the 19th century, and Asprey was clothed like a Christian clergyman in the trial scene, and yet everyone was praying to Apollo. And while we’re at it someone should tell sound designer Michael Pfeiffer that Apollo was the Greek sun god, NOT the god of thunder. That’s his father, Zeus. I realize that thunder and lightning do make a better stage effect than, say, sunspots, but a total eclipse would be dramatic.

But considering the contradictions and implausibilities that pepper this play, what are two more incongruities added to the mix.

If you have never seen or read The Winter’s Tale I highly recommend that you read a good synopsis of the so-called plot (what I have offered here in this review is a muddled and incomplete one) before you go. The guests who accompanied me had done just that and it really released them to relax and enjoy the whole silly sweep of the tragical-comical-pastoral-fantastical-romantical affair. This is top-notch production of a seldom-staged Shakespearean play that is well worth your time and attention.

Click HERE http://www.shakespeare.org/gallery/winterstalePERF for the performance photo gallery of this production. Rehearsal photos can be found HERE.

The Shakespeare & Company production of The Winter’s Tale runs through September 5 in the Founders’ Theatre on the Company’s Kemble Street campus in Lenox, MA. The show runs three hours with one intermission and is fine for children 10 and up who have had the plot explained to them ahead of time.

A wide range of ticket prices from $15 to $85 are available, along with the Company’s many discounts including special Student, Senior, Military, Teacher, Rush, and Group rates. The popular Berkshire Full-Time Resident 40% Discount also applies. NEW this season: Premium Tickets, where the ticket price includes special early seating, a sumptuous glass of wine and decadent dessert! Check out the website for specific show dates, further information, or to book your tickets. Visit: www.shakespeare.org or call the Box Office at (413) 637-3353.

* It is not known whether the early productions of this play cast real bears in this crucial role. There were certainly bears close at hand. Bear-baiting was a popular sport in Elizabethan England, and the main bear-garden in London was the Paris Garden at Southwark, near the Globe Theatre.

** Director Kevin G. Coleman’s son, Wolfe Coleman, is a member of the cast, so they will be referred to as Kevin Coleman and Wolfe Coleman throughout to avoid confusion.

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