The Winter's Tale
I went to see William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. I just can't resist if it's Shakespeare and if it's an English-speaking production performed somewhere in the vicinity. Apart from that it meant an opportunity to see Simon Russell Beale again, whom I had seen as Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 13 years ago.

This production was directed by Sam Mendes and starred Rebecca Hall as Hermione, Sinéad Cusack as Paulina, Ethan Hawke as Autolycus and Simon Russell Beale as Leontes.



I very much enjoyed acts 1 to 3 and act 5, which are situated in Sicilia. As expected, Russell Beale was fantastic both in his rage and in his repentence. One could see and feel that he didn't want to condemn Hermione, but that he couldn't help himself.

Hall and Cusack also were very good as the queen who couldn't fathom what was going on but kept her dignity and as the servant who fought for her queen's reputation.

I'm not entirely sure whether the choice of stage design and costumes was wise for those four acts because they made the play look like a domestic play. Stage design and costumes suggest that it's all just a personal tragedy while in reality Leontes' behaviour threatens the existence of the state of Sicilia.

I did have a huge problem with act 4, though, which is situated in Bohemia. The production is part of the Bridge Project, a transatlantic collaboration of the Brooklyn Academic of Music and the Old Vic, which, as already indicated by the actors' names, means that the actors are from both sides of the pond. The American actors spoke with an American accent, which, I'm afraid, I'm not used to when it comes to Shakespeare so that I found it jarring. Considering that characters of two different nations appear in the play, it did make sense, though. The Sicilians were played by the British actors, and the Bohemians were played by the American actors. There's also the comparison of the court in Sicilia and the pastoral scenes in Bohemia. Therefore, it makes sense to portray the Bohemians in a different way than the Sicilians, but why did the American actors have to play the Bohemians shepherds as the silliest, most superficial and hysterical people ever? Why ham it up like that? In my opinion, this is not how Shakespeare wrote the characters. Yes, Shakespeare uses the comic relief in many plays, and he also seldom hesitates to tell a crude joke, but not so much in The Winter's Tale.

To make it clear, I'm not blaming the American actors. Of course, they could have played the characters differently, quieter and with less exaggerated gestures. I'm blaming Sam Mendes. And I wonder why he decided to direct them like that. Did he want to give the impression that Bohemian shepherds are that simple or that American actors can't be subtle? I'll never know, but I thought it was a very unflattering decision both for the characters and the actors.

In case you're interested in a professional review here's one from the New York Times, published when the production was shown in New York a couple of months ago. It very much expresses what I thought as well.

A few production photos, which offer an impression of what the production looks like, can be seen here.