Performance Photographs: West Bridgford (Photo Credit: John Smalley, Vapour Trail Photography)
Reviews
Tour Poster
The Winter's Tale rehearsals begin Photo credit: James Wrigh
The calm before the storm
Hermione (Kate-Lynn Du Plessis) and Polixenes (David Watts) share an intimate moment
Fate's brief candle
Hermione (Kate-Lynn Du Plessis) holds a light, which, like her own, can be snuffed out all too easily
The happy few
The happy few
The three best friends, Polixenes (David Watts), Hermione (Kate-Lynn Du Plessis) and Leontes (Warren Saunders), relaxing the morning-after
Jen Watson, Director, on The Winter's Tale
The Winter’s Tale tells the story of King Leontes redemption; through the power of love and forgiveness he is redeemed of his acts of pride, anger and jealousy.
The play centres both around royal lives and the woes and concerns of ordinary people. The text highlights to the audience the value in humbling oneself. As King Leontes falls into despair and grief at the loss of his family, surrounded by the trappings and opulence of royalty, the second act reminds us of the joys and value in humble simple life. Only through confessing and accepting his own faults and wrongdoing, can Leontes be reunited with his wife and child.
This play demonstrates to us the value of speaking truth to power. King Leontes appoints himself as judge - even above his God - and rails about the imaginary wrongdoings of his wife. He is repeatedly rebuked by a woman of far lower rank to him. She faithfully and eloquently defends her Queen, reminding him of his heavenly and earthly responsibilities.
Throughout the text we are confronted with celestial and heavenly imagery. It is notable that while the nobility’s eyes are firmly fixed above their own heads, they speak of looking upwards as an end in itself. We are reminded by common people that earth and sky must meet and to live harmoniously and be grateful for the abundance and life that the earth brings. We hope to invite the audience both to look up to the heavens, and to remember the beauty of the earth and it's fecundity.
In the final act, Leontes is brought to a statue of his wife. He is distraught, fully admitting to his acts of pride and rage, vowing to make amends. Through this act of total surrender to a higher power, Hermione’s statue comes to life. She is reborn. She forgives her husband and is reunited with the baby girl she never thought to see again.
The play is titled The Winter’s Tale, but a great deal of the themes remind us of the turning of life, the eternal renewal of the earth and humanity's need to continue towards the light. We will create a performance which truly shows the power of forgiveness, faith and redemption.
