A tale. I approached this play as a modern day fairytale, brimming with mystery, danger, magic and, finally, redemption. It is perhaps Shakespeare’s most unique structure — the first act leans into tragedy, the second, all-out comedy.
We see the pitfalls of absolute power, when one man’s fears can turn tyrannous. The rules and thinking in the first act of this play are very black and white. Authority has little censure and misinformation and judgement rule. We have set it in a Victorian age of structure and order. As we fast forward to the second act in time and space, 16 years, there is more room for fun in 1910. We see the next generation reject harsh rulings and make their own way. Redemption is possible.
There are several supernatural elements in this play which add to the fabric of magic and wonder: the oracle of Apollo (straight out a Greek tragedy); the swift justice brought when man rejects his gods; the presence of nature — how it punishes, how it heals. The most famous of Shakespeare’s stage direction, “Exit pursued by a bear” is both terrifying and comical. It comes at the end of the first act as a Greek deus ex machina of justice. The ending of the second act, brings as unbelievable an event. But for it to work, Paulina tells the King as well as the audience: “It is required you do awake your faith.”
I am drawn again and again to the themes of The Winter’s Tale. So, on the heels of cancel culture, we offer a play about forgiveness and judgement. Who gets forgiven and who is unforgiveable? And in the case of those who fall hard, who do harm, is there hope for new life and redemption?
