When walking into the Semel Theater the evening of Friday, February 23rd, to see The Winter’s Tale, I was immediately in awe of the beautiful set. It was mystical-looking - an interweaving of ropes, and a background of dark, swaying trees that changed as the play went on to a flight of birds or gliding clouds. The set was well suited to the play: a unique mix of the comedic, the tragic and the otherworldly. As the Dramaturgy Note in the program said, “The Winter’s Tale is a story beyond imagination—a fairytale in which life is restored…magic brings about inexplicable reversals, and the gods have immense control over the outcome.”​
 

The costumes, in addition to the set, formed a lovely contrast: the royalty wore jewel tones, and the woodland people wore earth tones and pastels. And, of course, the actors! They had a wonderful understanding of the text and the show flowed quite naturally and organically; it reminded me as an audience member of how much easier it is to understand what’s going on in Shakespeare when the actors know what it is they’re saying, what they want out of the scene, and are playing the circumstances naturally despite the heightened language. They found the truth and believability in the play, which was clearly communicated out to the audience. I thought Melissa Jesser’s performance as Hermione was particularly moving, and Max Sangerman had fantastic comedic timing as Autolycus

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The first half of this play is a tragedy, and the actors were convincing in their passion and agony. The second half (the original play has 5 acts; this was a slightly abridged version!) came as a welcome change, with wonderfully comedic characters in a pastoral setting, somewhat like the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A fascinating choice was made by the director, Melia Bensussen, here to include musical and dance interludes that were delightful; the audience was clearly enjoying itself in these moments and there was simply a sense of warmth and fun in the theater.
 

Overall, this was a very strong performance, both darkly powerful and full of light and delight. In her director’s note, Melia wrote, “for me this production has…reawakened [or reminded me] of my faith in our Emerson students, my faith in the craft of making theatre, and ultimately, my faith in the importance of telling stories.” In the play, Shakespeare wrote that we ”are required to awaken our faith.” This production did indeed awaken me to a sense of magic, magic that only the power of theatre can bring about.

 

The Winter's Tale ran from February 21-24th, 2013 in the Semel Theater.