'The Winter's Tale' is not one of the very best plays of William Shakespeare, a master playwright and one of history's most important, with one of his more improbable plots. It is still though a charmer that really casts a spell when done well, has interesting characters difficult to portray in some cases (especially the Othello-like Leontes), has Shakespeare's usual mastery of language and has emotional impact. To me, even when Shakespeare was not at his very best there was still an awful lot to admire.
Anything with Antony Sher, a very seasoned Shakespearean actor, is worth a look and he himself is always a reason to see anything he's in. While he is not always the most innovative of stage directors and is not as much of a risk taker as other stage director, Gregory Doran even in non-traditional productions has more often than not directed in good taste and has always made characters and interactions interesting. Which is what is most important in Shakespeare. This is a great and very accessible production of 'The Winter's Tale' that overcomes most of the play's potential problems and is very entertaining, well acted and charming.
Ryan McClusky and Emily Bruni are a little on the bland side as the lovers, but quite a large part of the problem is the characters themselves (not the most interesting in the first places, they're no Leontes or Paulina, the two most well developed, that's for sure).
Everything else works absolutely brilliantly, with the rest of the performances being spot on. Sher in particular is extraordinary and intensely and movingly makes the difficult, complex role of Leontes a very layered character, embodying every single one of those layers and balancing them beautifully. Other standouts are Estelle Kohler's Paulina and Alexandra Gilbreath's radiant Hermione.
Doran's staging is always tasteful and manages to make the story cohesive, when it could easily have jumped and sprawled around, nothing is ridiculous or confusing here. And never does it feel static or too much. The final scene is absolutely magical and this is one of the few productions of 'The Winter's Tale' where the notorious bear scene, the play's Achilles heal and one of the most notoriously difficult stage directions in all Shakespeare, is not botched or/and unintentionally silly.
Production values are simple but also attractive and atmospheric. The dialogue always sparkles in humour and emotion and the whole storytelling has a lot of brains and heart.
In summary, fabulous and one of the stronger versions of 'The Winter's Tale' available. 9/10.
