WINTER'S TALE, Shakespeare, RSC Stratford
THE WINTER'S TALE: William Shakespeare
RSC: Main House, Stratford Upon Avon
Tickets: 0870 905 5060
Runs: 3h 15m, one interval, at Stratford in rep till 2 November
Review: Rod Dungate, 6 August 2002
Bold, mind-blowing a huge, taut, roller-coaster of a production.This is one hell of an emotional roller-coaster. A huge production stretched tautly between two worlds one a soulless place of hovering nightmares, the other a warm, friendly place of kindly shepherds, bonhomie and Country and Western.
The incredible tautness of this production is sustained throughout by the strength of the two axes Leontes versus Hermione-Perdita-Paulina: in turn, their strength stems from the actors' ability to sustain genuine, heart-wrenching relationships. I confess to being confused to begin with by the near modern American setting for the play but not for long. This American world is a man's-man's world and the play centres around the older men's paranoiac jealousy and lack of humanity Leontes' behaviour is reflected in Polixenes'. The setting foregrounds the play's context, Sicily = mafia = man pride-power = American money/society: the parallels aren't exact, but they reverberate.
In Vicki Mortimer's economically stylish settings, Sicilia is monochrome. The king's court all white tablecloths and sparkling chandeliers, the court of justice a vast open grey space where people disappear into the blackness becoming disembodied heads. Anastasia Hille's Hermione is so fragile you fear she will break beautiful in her pregnancy and a cornered exotic creature in prison, the sound of her dragging chain punctuates the action. Here, Hille has a delicate, heart-stopping dignity in a show-trial to end all show trials.
Director, Warchus allows the play to breathe. Nowhere is this more evident than in Perdita's early scenes the 'shearing' and 'betrothal'. Lauren Ward brings an ingenuousness to the character that sweeps through the play like a breathe of fresh air. This Perdita has a genuine and highly infectious delight in the wonderful things around her Alan Turkington's Florizel is a perfect match: together they are as fresh as Leontes and Polixenes are stale.
Myra Lucretia Taylor's Paulina is a force to be reckoned with. Here is a woman whose different class background frees her from the court's rules of etiquette so she speaks her mind. Her rage drives the plot onwards and the threat she creates to her own well-being is palpable.
Michael Cumpsty's Leontes is elegant, but at root all bloke. That he suspects his wife of adultery clearly comes from nowhere but then he becomes trapped by his playing out of his own manliness he holds his baby tenderly, but, suddenly aware of how unmanly this must look, he throws her from a balcony. He is a victim of the society that created men as men like him.
Matthew Warchus's spacious production is thrilling in its boldness and mind-blowing in its intelligence and clarity: it is a valuable addition to what is a strong current RSC programme.
Leontes: Michael Cumpsty
Hermione: Anastasia Hille
Mamillius: William Day-Brosnan/ Jaz Cox
Camillo: Brian Protheroe
Antigonus: Jude Akuwudike
Paulina: Myra Lucretia Taylor
Young Cleomenes: Jack Snell/ Max Stern
Dion: Gracy G Goldman
Gaoler: James Telfer
Emilio: Olwen May
Lady Guest: Serine Saba
Nurse: Fiona Lait
First Officer: James Hyland
Second Officer: Alan Turkington
Third Officer: Dan Crute
Justice: Jamie Quarrell
Priest : James Staddon
Cleomenes: James Garnon
Lord from Bohemia: James Telfer
Polixenes: Rolf Saxon
Florizel: Alan Turkington
Perdita: Lauren Ward
Autolycus: Felix Dexter
Old Shepherd: Keith Bartlett
Young Shepherd: Dylan Charles
Mopsa: Sirine Saba
Dorcas: Gracy G Goldman
Yokel: James Garnon
Pilot: James Garnon
Director: Matthew Warchus
Design: Vicki Mortimer
Lighting: Hugh Vanstone
(recreated by David Holmes)
Music: Gary Yershon
Movement: Quinny Sacks
Sound: Mic Pool
2002-08-07 17:27:54