Secrets and Lies

By Amy Kroin
Published 07/25/02

Shakespeare fans will find this remark blasphemous, but let it be said nonetheless: The Bard screwed up on the ending to his Winter's Tale.

Indeed, the final scene of this tragicomedy has the cheeseball feel of a crowd-pleasing Hollywood production, the kind of flick where miracles happen in the nick of time and characters stroll off into the sunset outfitted with gleaming, goofy smiles.  But if Shakespeare takes a sharp turn into Schmaltzville in the waning moments of The Winter's Tale, he deserves forgiveness: The rest of this glorious play about love, faith and loyalty entirely compensates for his misstep.

Local theatergoers have the opportunity to see this infrequently performed work in a truly idyllic setting.  Hampshire Shakespeare Company is presenting its production of The Winter's Tale under the stars at the Hartsbrook School, where the moon lights the stage and grazing cows occasionally wander up from their pasture to take in the proceedings.

A cast of about 40 performers appears in the Hampshire Shakespeare production, including members of HSC's Young Company, who will present their own version of The Winter's Tale in August.  Where other theater companies pay scant attention to underage performers -- casting them as trees or silent moppets -- it's commendable that the folks at HSC have given many of their young players genuine responsibilities.  And while there's obviously a gulf of experience between the young and adult performers, director Benjamin Ware makes the tension work.

In an era in which contemporary updates of Shakespeare's plays abound -- on the silver screen, we've seen Hamlet as a hipster New Yorker, the characters in Love's Labour's Lost as denizens in a 1930s musical -- it's almost a relief to see a straightforward interpretation of the Bard's work.  HSC's production is lively throughout -- an accomplishment in and of itself, given that The Winter's Tale tops three hours.

Marck Morrison stars as Leontes, the King of Sicilia, who is attempting to persuade Polixenes, King of Bohemia, to extend his visit.  Leontes' efforts prove unsuccessful, so he enlists his wife Hermione, whose charm works wonders on Polixenes.  Indeed, Leontes wonders if there's a bit too much charm in the air; as he observes his wife and his best buddy huddled in conversation, he becomes convinced that the two are romantically involved -- and that Polixenes is the father of Hermione's unborn child.

In short order, Leontes asks one of his henchmen to poison Polixenes and has Hermione imprisoned; when Hermione's baby is born, Leontes asks yet another henchman to abandon the child in some desert place.

A play that begins as a tragedy gradually evolves into a comedy -- the reverse, as the director notes, of the progression of Romeo and Juliet.  The cast handles the transition with aplomb, and the women -- especially Sally-Anne Dunn as Hermione, Sandra Blaney as Perdita and Amy Ware as Paulina -- prove particularly up to the task.

The only missteps come from two of the men in the cast.  As Leontes, Marck Morrison isn't always able to bring the gravity to his performance that the role seems to demand; as his right-hand man Camillo, Kerry David Strayer often delivers reactions that feel canned or premature, as though he's anticipating what is about to be said.  But on the whole, the HSC production is well worth your while -- even if you might be wishing for a cushion for your folding chair.

The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare. Directed by Benjamin Ware. Under the stars at the Hartsbrook School, 193 Bay Road, Hadley, 548-8118. Through July 28.