Written late in
his career, Shakespeare’s The Winter’s
Tale is perhaps one of the stranger of his plays to wrap your head around.
Essentially comprising of two very disparate genres – heightened tragedy c. Othello, and bawdy pastoral comedy c. As You Like It – it, today, works on an
emotional level more than a dramatic level, and pushes the boundaries of what
is possible on stage, both in the Elizabethan theatres and on contemporary
stages. Deriving its title from the Elizabethan storytelling mode reminiscent
of a fairytale, The Winter’s Tale is
classified as one of the Romances
by twenty-first century critics. While the term ‘Romance’ derives from the
Greek stories from the
second and third centuries AD, these stories were, for the Elizabethan and
Jacobean audiences, merely continuations in a rich vein of storytelling; usually
episodic, they utilised the processional ‘quest’ motif, and generally involved
perilous journeys and final (impossible) recognitions and reunions.
Presented here by Bell Shakespeare, The Winter’s
Tale is one of Shakespeare’s less performed plays throughout the world,
perhaps because of its stylistic confusion. Directed with warmth and colour by
John Bell, this production is enchantingly set inside a child’s bedroom, that
of Mamillius, the son of Leontes, King of Sicily. Created out of white
curtains, a white bed, and white floor, the austerity and winteriness of its
design gives way to gorgeous washes of colour, deep blues and purples, vibrant
pinks and yellows and ceruleans. The story unfolds very much from Mamillius’
point of view, yet for all its ingenuity and enchanting cleverness, something
doesn’t quite sit right with this production.
