THE WINTER’S TALE

Review by Celia Ipiotis

An untidy Shakespearean tragicomedy, The Winter’s Tale, tussles between two feuding kings, an innocent wife, one lost girl-child, a bunch of shepherds, courtly folks and an unlikely ending. Lush production values are designed by the theater’s award-winning Bob Crowley. 

Word of warning: Unless you are friendly with Shakespeare’s play, read the synopsis. Darkness drains the stage of light. The main characters appear in silhouette.  Lights brighten on a palatial room framed by classic statuary, an exceptionally long white staircase and a cutout window view of a snowy, winter forest. Two friends unite, King Leontes (Herman Cornejo) and King Polixenes (James Whiteside). Leontes’ wife, Hermione (Cassandra Trenary) is introduced and asked to be hospitable to King Polixenes only to be accused of infidelity. The kings start by dancing with arms around each other’s shoulders and end by roughly charging one other.  Pregnant, Teuscher executes fluttering bourees and folds her back over the men’s arms until the three pull away from each other.

Wheeldon’s foray into theater is quite evident in the way he organizes groups and draws the eye to the key action. A commissioned, quirky score by Joby Talbot adds layers of odd cultural influences (from Mideastern to jazz). 

Much of this ballet depends on the acting skills of the dancers and in Herman Cornejo, Wheeldon has found a perfect match. Despite his oversized, outrageous accusations, Cornejo draws the impending fury up through his body rather than forcing outsized facial expressions. Neck pulls down, body tenses, eyes flash side to side as he dissolves into an uncontained jealousy. Unable to fathom his ire, Teuscher sustains a loving and forgiving stance, reaching for him only to recoil in swift backward runs on point. Claire Davison (Paulina) is lovely in her pleas for sanity. Convinced his newly born daughter was fathered by Polixenes, King Leontes banishes the newborn from his sight. 

Whiteside and Cornejo are suited as comrades and enemies. A spitfire, Cornejo climbs reptilian-like onto the statary to spy on his wife and friend. In those moments, the lights (by Natasha Katz) dim and we see  the delusions in his mind. Whiteside cradles her, Trenary presses against him.  

Setting off to the shores of Bohemia with Perdita the newly born baby girl, Antigonus encounters a massive storm only to be chased by a massive white bear. Stage height and width silk material  waves and heaves until the monstrous bear rises up. This fantastical, grand scale depiction (projections by Daniel Brodie) is the creation of McCarthy Award winning puppeteer Basil Twist.

Come the second act, everything changes. What resembles an umbrella tree decorated in a multitude of brightly colored ribbons with bright trinkets dangling off the ends establishes the frolicsome village gathering for a summer sheep-shearing festival. It’s 16 years later and the beautiful Perdita (Skylar Brandt) — who was fatefully rescued by a shepherd — falls in love with a young man, Prince Florizel (Jake Roxander). Highly compatible performers, Brandt and Roxander flow through the complex partnering passages, including her body arching against his, legs flipping up to her head. In particular, Roxander is refining his technical clarity and presence to a point of great distinction. Brandt is comfortable in the role of a lighthearted woman who easily springs into the air and sustains exacting balances. When Whiteside arrives in search of his son, he demonstrates a great comedic capacity, goofily donning the outfits of a shepherd only to reveal his kingship with legs planted apart, standing tall and proudly demanding fealty. 

In the final act, all come together again to resolve the darkest chapters of their lives and move towards the future and hope.

EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis