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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b style><span style="color:windowtext"><span style="color:rgb(204,0,0)"><br></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b style><span style="color:windowtext"><span style="color:rgb(204,0,0)">•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••</span><br>
</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b style><span style="color:windowtext"><br></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><b style><span style="color:windowtext">Disappointing
THE WINTER’S TALE at Great Lakes Theatre</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">(Member, American Theatre
Critics Association and Cleveland Critics Circle)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Shakespeare’s THE WINTER’S TALE, now on stage at
Great Lakes Theatre, centers on jealousy, a false accusation, deaths,
banishment and reuniting.<span style> </span>The
plot, was taken from Robert Greene’s pastoral romance, PANDOSTO.<span style> </span>The Bard made some minor changes,
mainly giving the script a happy-ever-after conclusion. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The story, which takes place in Sicilia and Bohemia,
finds King Leontes accusing his wife, Hermione, and his friend, Polixenes, the
visiting King of Bohemia, of having an affair.<span style> </span>The pregnant queen, shortly after giving birth to a girl, “dies”
(the quote marks, as you will be aware if you see the production, are important).<span style> </span>The baby (Perdita) is sent into
exile.<span style> </span>Shortly after, the young
prince (Mamillius), dies of grief, leaving Leontes without an heir to the
throne.<span style> </span>Through a series of mythical
instances, a statue of Hermione comes to life, Perdita, who has been saved and
raised by a dim-witted Bohemian shepherd, returns with Florizel, Leontes’ son,
and the friendship of Polixenes and Leontes is reinstated.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The title of the play comes from a speech when
Mamillius, the royal heir warns, “a sad tale’s best for winter.”<span style> </span>This idea is re-enforced when we are alerted
to pay attention to the words of children.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">THE WINTER’S TALE is most commonly identified as a
romance.<span style> </span>However some modern
literary experts consider it to be a problem play because, as originally written,
the first three acts have strong overtones of psychological issues, while the
last two acts are comedic and concludes with a happy ending.<span style> </span>(Be aware that the Great Lakes
production is compressed into two acts.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">It is this difficulty in clearly deciding on
whether the play should and needs to stress the message, or should be played as
farce/comedy, that may be behind the inconsistency of the GLT production.<span style> </span>Director Jess Berger, in spite of his
impressive credentials as a leading Shakespearean director, doesn’t seem to have
clearly decided which way to go.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">The necessity to build the emotional aspects of the
ideas, making sure that the lines have clear meaning, or stressing farcical
double takes and broad exaggeration, seems to have gotten lost.<span style> </span>The development of the first and second
acts are a total disconnect, leaving the audience to wonder whether they have
just seen two separate one-act plays. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">David Anthony Smith, as Leontes, starts out
screaming and then has no place to go in developing what should be an
increasingly maniacal march toward unbridled jealous rage, and destruction of
his family. His portrayal lacks the necessary nuance. His point of dénouement, a
plot requirement, never becomes clear.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Juan Rivera Lebron as the Old Shepherd who finds
the abandoned Perdita and his son, Clown (Juan Rivera Lebron), don’t texture
their performances, playing exaggerated buffoons, much to the delight of the
audience, but not the benefit of the plot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Lovely Kimbre Lancaster’s Perdita, is a clearly
etched role. Handsome Miles Gaston Villanueva is excellent as Florizel.<span style> </span>They both exude the joys of youthful
love.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Laurie Birmingham steals the show as Paulina, a
member of the court, who plays an important role in the plot development.<span style> </span>This is a well conceived and developed
portrayal, as is Lynn Robert Berg’s Polixenes.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">Tom Ford has some delightful moments as Autolycus,
the light fingered rogue.<span style> </span>Young
Ryan Vincent nicely handles the role of Mamillius.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">David Barber’s art moderne set design, complete
with its astrological implications, works well.<span style> </span>However, Sara Jean Tosetti’s costumes, much like the
production, are confusing.<span style> </span>They
are a blend of many styles, not helping in character clarity or idea
development.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none"><i style><span style="color:windowtext">Capsule judgement:<span style> </span>GLT’s THE WINTER’ TALE is a
disappointment. This is a difficult script to produce due to the many emotional
and psychological levels which require a clear staging philosophy.<span style> </span>Due to the lack of focused directing by
Jesse Berger, the production never sets a clear course and leaves so much of
Shakespeare’s brilliance untapped.<span style>
</span></span></i><span style="color:windowtext"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="color:windowtext">An
excellent Teacher Preparation Guide has been prepared by Daniel Hahn and Kelly
Schaffer Florian to aid teachers in leading discussions about the play.<span style> </span>For information or copy send an email
to <u><a href="mailto:Dhahn@greatlakestheater.org">Dhahn@greatlakestheater.org</a></u>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,255)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><i style><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style"">Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from
2001 through 2012, can be found at <span style><span style><a href="http://www.royberko.info">www.royberko.info</a></span></span>. His reviews
and commentary can also be found on <span style><span style><a href="http://www.coolcleveland.com">www.coolcleveland.com</a></span></span> and
www.NeOHIOpal, Broadwaynews.com and ArtsAmerica.org.</span></i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="color:rgb(204,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(51,51,255)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style></span></span></span><br>
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span style="color:rgb(204,0,0)">********************************************************</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none">
<br><i style><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Bookman Old Style";color:#c0504d"></span></i><span style="color:windowtext"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red"> </span></p>