Part domestic tragedy, part raucous comedy, mostly improbable
fairy tale, “The Winter’s Tale” is one of Shakespeare’s most intriguing and
confounding works. Rochester Community Players’ production of the show, running
until the end of this month, is a well-conceived take on a play seldom seen but
definitely worth seeing.
As “The Winter’s Tale” begins, Leontes,
the King of Sicilia, is enlisting his wife, Hermione, to persuade his visitor
and longtime friend Polixenes, the friendly King of
Bohemia, to stay longer. Hermione is a virtuous wife, but when Leontes observes her in conversation with Polixenes, he is suddenly overwhelmed with jealousy and
accuses him of fathering the child Hermione is carrying. His insistence that
Hermione is unfaithful has terrible consequences: by the intermission, the
court is in an uproar, his wife has been accused of treason and sentenced to
death, their young son is dead, and their newborn daughter is taken away by a
courtier to be abandoned in Bohemia (bearing no resemblance to the real
Bohemia). In true fairy-tale fashion, she is discovered and raised by a shepherd.
Fast forward 17 years, and the girl, named Perdita, is still among the Bohemians and being wooed by Florizel, the disguised Prince of Bohemia. Without going
into too much detail, suffice it to say that Perdita
finds her true parentage, Leontes is forgiven after
many years of penance, and a miracle or two ensues to provide a happy, and to
some, not terribly convincing, ending. “The Winter’s Tale” does require a
thorough suspension of disbelief from the audience — but as Shakespeare knew, that’s
what theater is about.
“The
Winter’s Tale” is a complex play: its plot deliberately defies
logic, and while there is some thrilling dialogue and rhetoric in the court
scenes, other passages are (to me at least) almost impenetrably dense and hard
to follow. The changes in tone between the court and country sections of “A
Winter’s Tale” (or if you like, the tragic and the comic sections) must be
difficult for performers and directors to balance.
The challenges start in the very first scene, which starts
with a few minutes of courtly chit-chat but then turns
downright nasty as irrational jealousy grabs Leontes
and won’t let go. As for the scenes in Bohemia, they are full of those
Shakespearean rustic clowns whom — I may as well just be honest — I have never
found all that funny. And Leontes’ redemption at the
end of the play can seem sudden and unearned, although
in this production it is quite moving.
Director Virginia Monte’s concept is wintry from the
beginning: the play is performed on an all-white set, with elegant white costumes
for the Sicilian court. The second part brings bright ragtag costumes for the
Bohemians. It’s a simple concept but it looks great in the small-ishMuCCC playing space. There is
also brief but telling use of puppetry and shadows, as well as some subtle
lighting effects. Monte turns Shakespeare’s character “Time” into a chorus of
fates watching over the action, and occasionally taking part in it, adding
three more characters to a frequently full stage of people. I’m not sure that
this conceit is necessary, but the director works the three actresses into the
action quite well.
The
large and able cast ranges from seasoned Rochester Shakespeareans
to first-timers. Those complicated speeches don’t trip off everyone’s tongue
with equal ease, but the increasingly strange story is clearly
presented. Leontes must be one of the more difficult
Shakespearean parts to bring off, and James Heath is convincing as a holy terror
in the first part and as a much-chastened man at the end. Abby DeVuyst is a dignified Hermione, and her impassioned speech
during her trial for treason is one of the highlights of the show. (As Paulina,
a court lady defending Hermione, Midge Marshall gets to jump on an even more
venomous outburst to Leontes.) Danielle Lattiere’sPerdita is definitely
her mother’s daughter, displaying the regal bearing one character mentions in
the play.
The smaller parts (and there are many parts in this play —
most of the actors play two roles) are well taken by a few of those seasoned local
actors. Tom Borhrer as the shepherd who discovers Perdita, Brad Craddock at Polixenes,
and Roger Gans as the Sicilian courtier Camillo invest their every line with clarity and meaning.
Kate Sherman makes an entertaining 180-degree turn from a regal Sicilian
courtier in Part I to a wild Bohemian wench in Part II. Mark Casey gives a
pleasantly silly fake-European air to one of those rustic clowns, while accompanying
himself on the concertina and mandolin; he also wrote the show’s pretty, sometimes moody incidental music.
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2014.
