The Winter's Tale

Though this production is not without some minor flaws, it is overall a sparkling version of a magnificent play. In particular, the director Jane Howell recognizes that the sumptuous language of the play is its foremost virtue, and she assigns top priority to the recitation of that language.

The director is helped by superb acting from virtually every performer who appears. On the one hand, there are a few blemishes in the performance by Jeremy Kemp. For example, he rather awkwardly clutches his son while he is delivering the crucial "Affection" soliloquy, and he does not adequately convey a sense of desolation after the deaths of his son and wife have been announced to him in Act III. However, the few shortcomings in his performance are greatly surpassed by its overall excellence.

Most of the other performances are flawless or nearly so. Margaret Tyzack is the very embodiment of speaking truth to power in her role as Paulina; David Burke (who is married to Anna Calder-Marshall, who impeccably plays Hermione) is convincing at every stage as Camillo; Cyril Luckham is a highly entertaining Antigonus; Robert Stephens is fine in the quite difficult role of Polixenes (difficult because Polixenes in much of the second half is as heavy-handedly oppressive as Leontes in the first half, albeit for different reasons); Paul Jesson and Arthur Hewlett are amusing as the rustic father and son; Rikki Fulton is an engaging Autolycus; and the sundry other members of the cast likewise carry out their roles admirably.

The passage of sixteen years is not handled especially well, as only a few characters (Camillo, Hermione, Cleomines, Dion) look any older in the second half of the play than in the first half. The notorious difficulty of the exit of Antigonus pursued by a bear is likewise not handled particularly well, as the bear looks preposterously phony. (If that bit of the play were unequivocally comical, the phoniness of the bear would be unexceptionable. However, the pursuit of Antigonus is an event that leads to his gory death even though it also offers material for some entertaining remarks by Paul Jesson's character.) Still, the minor defects in this production detract only very slightly from its magic. I heartily recommend it to anyone who loves Shakespeare's awe-inspiring language and to anyone who admires fine acting.

When watching this screen adaptation of "A Winter's Tale," one must first keep in mind that this is a BBC production and an ensemble cast of actors. This is not Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet and should not be confused as such. That aside, it is one of the better Shakespeare plays produced and is what a real Elizabethan citizen might have seen in their time. There is no pop and circumstance to detract from the text of the play. The scenes are well acted and beautifully played out by some of the best ensemble Shakespearean actors to ever cross the stage.

Jeremy Kempt gives a wonderful portrayal of the tormented King Leontes and is well supported by David Burke as Camillo. Hermione is given a delicate sense of nobility by Anna Calder-Marshall and brings the grounding feminine presence to the play. Not to be overlooked is Margaret Tyzach who plays the proud and noble Paulina who defends Hermione in her darkest days. The only two lacking performances were those of Perdita and Florizel played by Debbie Farrington and Robert Kermode respectively, although I blame their bland performances on being young and inexperienced.

This is a TERRIBLE film, one of the worst Shakespeare adaptations ever made in the history of the world. It manages to bore FROM THE FIRST FIVE SECONDS, and to watch the entire three hours is an appalling prospect. Made with no imagination at all, and on a budget of 57 pence, it has only one (boring) set, and an array of famous actor giving boring, boring performances. Even the comic pastoral scenes are slow, clumsy and lumpen. Poor Shakespeare. Poor students forced to watch this film. When you die and go to Hell, this will be the in-flight movie.

'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, has interesting characters difficult to portray in some cases, 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.

As has been said before, although some productions are inevitably better than others, the BBC Television Shakespeare series is an interesting must watch. It is great to have a series containing productions of almost all his plays, and while there are productions where low budget does show it is also great to see the productions mostly faithfully and tastefully staged with generally good casts (with some disappointments too). This 1981 production of 'The Winter's Tale' is as of now among the lower rated productions of the series here, for me it is somewhere in the high middle without being one of the best. It is a good example of how to do 'The Winter's Tale' and doesn't disgrace it or Shakespeare at all.

Not much else to add to what has been said. There are short-comings with the productions which have been said already, and do share those criticisms. Especially with the ageing mostly not being convincing enough and even more so with the woefully under-budgeted look/effect of the bear.

It is agreed too that Debbie Farrington and Robin Kermode are on the bland side, they look the part and look appropriately youthful but when it comes to experience the others are so far ahead and it shows.

However, the production does look good otherwise. The production values are simple in the type of set used but it was great that it didn't get in the way of the staging or swamp the cast, while the costumes are also simple but don't come over as though they were made on a low budget in a rush (found them quite tasteful actually). Also really liked the colour scheme starting from the more monochrome colours to the richer and more vibrant ones, which fitted with the story's progression. The use of close-ups was effective and made the most of, without being over-the-top or over-used.

Shakespeare's text shines through, amusing, tense, loving and poignant in equal measure. The staging is compelling, apart from a brief dead stretch at the beginning, it didn't come over as too busy or too static while also not resorting to pointless distaste and everything makes sense. Despite trying not to be too much of a traditionalist, have liked concept productions of plays and operas, but it depends on how the concept is executed, whether it and the staging touches make sense and don't offend. Do agree that the pace is fine on the whole and the spirit of the play is maintained with full impact.

Jeremy Kemp is a compellingly tortured as Leontes and Robert Stephens equally excels in another difficult role in Polixenes. It is hard to find a more ideal Camillo than David Burke, while Anna Calder-Marshall is a noble and touching Hermione and Margaret Tyzack is an immensely powerful presence as Paulina. The more clownish and comedic aspects and how they're performed are actually done amusingly and not obnoxiously, Shakespearean clowns/comedy relief are not easy to get right judging from how variably they have been performed in Shakespeare productions/adaptations but this production of 'The Winter's Tale' does a great job on this front. The interaction between the actors is never less than compelling and a great deal of thought clearly went into it.

Overall, a very good and often great production. This may sound like reinforcing what has been said already but only really because what has been said has been said so well and wanted to show my agreement. Also reviewed it as someone seeing the whole BBC Television Shakespeare series and writing reviews on them. 8/10

Unfortunately there are so few versions of The Winters Tale available to watch on screen. It seems to have fallen out of favour in modern times, shunned by other more obviously engaging Shakespeare plays. This version of the unabridged play was done as part of BBC Television Shakespeare in the 80s where they adapted all of Shakespeare's plays. Some of those versions are brilliant. For example Derek Jacobi's Hamlet remains my favourite Hamlet and I have seen many. This version of The Winter's Tale is very dry and dusty. The first 2 acts are lacking in the emotional intensity of the jealousy and tragedy, and the 2nd half lacking in the joviality and comedy of the feast and wedding. The final act of redemption is done very well and Anna Calder Marshall may be my favourite Hermione, I really enjoyed her performance.

Other than that this was very slow. There was a 2021 version performed by the RSC and which is available on BBC player and will be until at least April 2022. I recommend that one unreservedly over this 1981 version.