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About 'The Winter's Tale: A Production Casebook' This version of THE WINTER'S TALE has been cut down and is interspersed with interviews from the cast and company. The Play At the court of King Leontes of Sicilia, Polixenes, King of Bohemia, is nearing the end of a visit. He is persuaded by Hermione, Leontes's Queen, to
prolong his stay. Leontes becomes convinced that the two of them are
guilty of adultery and that the child Hermione is expecting is not his.
He tries to have Polixenes poisoned but Camillo, entrusted
with the murder, reveals the plot to Polixenes and the two of them flee
to Bohemia. This fuels Leontes' rage. He has Hermione imprisoned, and
when she gives birth to a daughter he orders the child to be cast out
into the wilderness. At Hermione's trial, the sacred Oracle
of Apollo at Delphi declares that she is innocent and that Leontes is a
tyrant who will die without an heir if his lost child is not found.
When news is brought of the death of their other child, the boy
Mamillius, Hermione collapses with grief. When he hears that she, too,
is dead, Leontes is overcome with remorse. Hermione's baby, abandoned in Bohemia, is found by shepherds, who call her Perdita and bring her up as their own.
Time moves on by sixteen years, and Perdita has grown in a lovely young woman. Prince Florizel, Polixenes' son, has fallen in love with her and, believing her to be a humble shepherd's daughter, plans to marry her without his father's consent. However, Polixenes discovers the plan and the young couple are forced to elope, to Sicilia, accompanied by Camillo.
They arrive at Leontes's court where the penitent King has spent the last sixteen years in atonement, and Perdita's true identity is discovered. To crown the celebrations, Paulina takes Leontes to see a statue, which has been made in memory of Hermione. Date The Winter's Tale was written around 1610-11, making it one of his late plays. Shakespeare died in 1616 and the play was first published in the Folio of 1623. Source Shakespeare's primary source was Robert Greene's romance Pandosto, The Triumph of Time, written in 1588. This supplied the Leontes-Hermione-Polixenes plot and the love story of Perdita and Florizel, although Shakespeare made some crucial changes, most notably a new ending of hope and reconciliation. On The Theme of... Jealousy "The ear of jealousy heareth all things."
The Wisdom of Solomon "A Mixture of hate and love."
Spinoza "Jealousy is one of those affective states, like grief, that may be described as normal."
Freud "Love is strong as death, Jealousy is cruel as the grave."
The Song of Solomon "Suspicions amongst thoughts are like bats amongst birds, they ever fly by twilight."
Francis Bacon "A kind of fear related to desire to preserve a possession."
Descartes "It
is even difficult to say to what extent jealousy is a normal
phenomenon, an inevitable accompaniment of love, and if so how this
differs in nature, apart from its external manifestations, from what
psychoanalysts call morbid jealousy. The fear here takes the form of a
mad suspiciousness that overthrows all reason, that finds food in the
most innocent trifles, and that distorts and misreads, misjudges
evidence to such an extent that no sanity remains. This did not escape
the observations of the master psychologist, Shakespeare."
Ernest Jones, Papers on Psychoanalysis (1948) "Inch thick, knee deep, o'er head and ears a fork'd one!"
Cast & Production In Sicilia Leontes, King of Sicilia - Antony Sher
Hermione, Queen to Leontes - Alexandra Gilbreath
Mamillius, their son - Emily Bruni
Camillo - Geoffrey Freshwater
Antigonus - Jeffry Wickham
Paulina, wife to Antigonus - Estelle Kohler
Cleomenes - William Mannering
Dion - Steven Athol
First Lord - Christopher Wells
Second Lord - Nicholas Khan
Gaoler - Peter Macqueen
Doctor - Sévan Stephan
Emilia - Myra McFadyen
Ladies-in-waiting - Nancy Carrol, Emily Pithon & Paula Stephens
Guards - Michael Moylan & Gil Cohen-Alloro
Footmen - Jim Fish & Miltos Yerolemou
Maids - Vanessa Earl, Karen Bryson, Florence Sparham & Gail Ghislaine Sixsmith In Bohemia Polixenes, King of Bohemia - Ken Bones
Florizel, his son - Ryan McCluskey
Archidamus - Peter Macqueen
Perdita - Emily Bruni
Autolycus - Ian Hughes
Old Shepherd - James Hayes
Young Shepherd - Christopher Brand
Mopsa - Gail Ghislaine Sixsmith
Dorcas - Myra McFadyen
Shepherd's servant - Miltos Yerolemou
Mariner - Nicholas Khan
Other parts played by members of the company RSC Production Director - Gregory Doran
Designer - Robert Jones
Lighting designer - Tim Mitchell
Music - Ilona Sekacz
Movement - Sian Williams
Sound - Andrea J Cox
Voice Director - Cicely Berry
© Heritage Theatre Ltd.
Biographies
ANTONY SHER Leontes
Theatre: For The RNT: title role in Stanley (Laurence Olivier Best
Actor Award 1996; also New York: Tony Awards Best Actor Nomination),
Astrov in Uncle Vanya, Arturo in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,
Titus in Titus Andronicus (co-production with Market Theatre,
Johannesburg; TMA Best Actor Award 1995). Other work includes: Arnold
in Torch Song Trilogy (Albery: Laurence Olivier Best Actor Award 1985),
Muhammad in Goosepimples (Hampstead and Garrick), Ringo in John, Paul,
George, Ringo and Bert (Liverpool Everyman/West End). RSC:
Associate Actor. Title role in Richard III (Four awards including
Evening Standard Best Actor, 1985), Henry Carr in Travesties, title
role in Tamburlaine the Great, title role in Singer, Johnny in Hello
and Goodbye, Vindice in The Revenger's Tragedy, Shylock in The Merchant
of Venice, Flote in Red Roses, title role in Tartuffe, title role in
Molière, The Fool in King Lear, title role in Cyrano de Bergerac,
Leontes in The Winter's Tale, the title role in Macbeth. Television:
The History Man, Genghis Cohen, The Moonstone, The Land of Dreams,
Changing Step, Tartuffe, Molière, Mark Gertler, Collision Course,
Hornblower, The Jury. Film: Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown
(Evening Standard Peter Sellers award), Alive and Kicking, Wind In The
Willows, The Young Poisoner's Handbook, Shadey. Books:
Fiction: Middlepost, The Indoor Boy, Cheap Lives, The Feast.
Non-fiction: Year of the King, Woza Shakespeare! (Co-written with
Gregory Doran), Beside Myself, Characters (Paintings and drawings). Film script: Changing Step Art Exhibitions: Stratford, Barbican, Royal National Theatre Antony Sher was knighted in 2000 for his services to theatre and writing. ALEXANDRA GILBREATH Hermione Theatre:
Includes Bride in Blood Wedding (Young Vic), title role in Hedda Gabler
(ETT/Donmar Warehouse: Ian Charleson Award Winner 1996), Sarah Casey in
Disappeared (Royal Court), Adela in The House of Bernarda Alba (Gate),
Ann in The Complaisant Lover (Palace), Regan in King Lear (West
Yorkshire Playhouse and Hackney Empire, Ian Charleson nomination 1995).
Phoebe in As You Like It (Ludlow Festival), Susan in Company, Lucy in
Woman in Mind, Jane in Wild Oats (Northcott Theatre) Mary in How The
Other Half Loves, Ophelia in Hamlet, Cecily in The Importance of Being
Earnest (Harrogate Theatre). RSC: Maria in Love's Labour's
Lost, Lucy in The Country Wife, Regina in Ghosts, Roxane in Cyrano de
Bergerac, Hermione in The Winter's Tale, Rosalind in As You Like It,
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Television: Children's Ward,
Out of Hours, A Wing and a Prayer, The Heart Surgeon, A Touch of Frost,
Next of Kin, The Real McCoy, Screaming, Stella, The Brittas Empire,
Monarch of the Glen III. Film: Dead Babies ESTELLE KOHLER Paulina Theatre:
Judith Bliss in Hay Fever (Oxford Stage Co. 2001), Mrs. Raademeyer in
The Cherry Orchard, Anna in Old Times (Birmingham Rep) title role in
Hedda Gabler (Crucible Sheffield). Work in London: Boo Hoo (Open
Space), Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Regent's Park), Leni in
The Trial (Young Vic), Tonight at 8.30, The Red Devil Battery Sign,
Mrs. Birling in An Inspector Calls, Persia in 900 Oneonto (West End).
International work: title role in Fanny Kemble, Same Time Next Year,
Anya and Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, The Tenth Man, Night of the
Iguana, The Indian Queen, Shakespeare in the Saddle. RSC
Associate Artist: Roles include Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost,
Ophelia in Hamlet, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Helena in All's Well that
Ends Well, Isabella in Measure for Measure, Sylvia in Two Gentlemen of
Verona, Miranda in The Tempest, title role in Sylvia Plath, Beatrice in
Exiles, Carmen in The Balcony, Guinevere in The Island of the Mighty,
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet - twice (London Critics Award), Varvara in
Summerfolk (Obie Award, New York) Sister Jeanne in The Devils, Amanda
Clarke in Fashion, Hester in Hello and Goodbye (RSC/Almeida season:
nominated for Olivier Award; also tour), Lorraine Sheldon in The Man
Who Came to Dinner, Mrs Kepes in Have, Adriana in The Comedy of Errors,
Goneril in King Lear, White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The
Wardrobe, Paulina in The Winter's Tale. Television and
Film: The Main Chance, Flight of the Herons, Nadine Gordimer, The
Daedelus Equation, The Late Bourgeois World, The Beaux' Stratagem,
Paradise is Closing Down, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Why Shakespeare?
Five to Eleven, Mr. Palfrey of Westminster, The Admirable Crichton, The
Changeling, Shakespeare Lady, Orpheus and Eurydice, Death is Part of
the Process, The Lady and the Fish. Radio and recording:
Numerous credits, including recently The Assassin, The Glass Is Singing
and Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Shakespeare's Lovers. IAN HUGHES Autolycus Born: Merthyr Tydfil Trained: National Youth Theatre of Wales and Birmingham University. Theatre:
Ian is the winner of first RNT Ian Charleson Award for the title role
in Tarquarto Tasso (ATC Lyric, Hammersmith) and received a Special
Commendation for Hamlet at the RSC. Regional theatre includes work at
Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; Torch Theatre, Milford Haven; Theatr Clwyd;
Belgrade, Coventry; Manchester Library; Harrogate Theatre; York Theatre
Royal. Parts played include Khlestakov in The Government Inspector,
Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead, Anarchist in Accidental Death of An Anarchist,
Corman in Serious Money. Work in London: Timone in The Lion King, Moon
in The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy, Franz von Moor in The Robbers
(Gate). Tours with The Wales Actors Company and The British Actors
Theatre Company. In America: Young Dylan Thomas in Portrait of the Poet
(New York, Washington DC) RSC: John of Lancaster in Henry
IV, Parts 1 and II, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, Chorus in Oedipus
Tyrannus and Oedipus at Colonus, Messenger in Antigone, Tybalt in Romeo
and Juliet, Fortinbras/Reynaldo in Hamlet, Arlecchino in The Venetian
Twins, Father John in Elgar's Rondo, The Fool in King Lear, Puck in A
Midsummer Night's Dream (world tour) Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe, Autolycus in The Winter's Tale, Faulkland in The
Rivals, Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. Television: Death of a Salesman, Flying Blind, Survivor's Guide, Accidental Death of An Anarchist Radio:
Numerous broadcasts including Fairest Isle, Führer, Friday's Child, The
Lady of Charlotte, All Things Betray Thee, The Lifted Veil, The Wrong
Box. Audio: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, Titus Andronicus, Henry IV Part I, Antony and Cleopatra Directing: Under Milk Wood (Theatr Clwyd) Writing: The Dramatic Exploits of Edmund Kean, One Step Short of Paradise (screenplay) KEN BONES Polixenes Worked at The Home Office before training at RADA. Theatre: Many leading roles in rep. Tours with Prospect and Foco Novo. Work
in London: Octavius Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra (Haymarket), Givola
in Arturo Ui (Queen's), Major Strasser in Casablanca (Whitehall), Louis
King of France/First Baron in Becket (Haymarket), Earl of Warwick in
Saint Joan (Strand), Julian in Communicating Doors (Gielgud/Savoy),
title role in Sir Thomas More (Shaw), Oberon in A Midsummer Night's
Dream. RSC: 1982-85 Dick Reede in Arden of Faversham,
Borachio in Much Ado About Nothing, Alexas/Thidias in Antony and
Cleopatra, Burgundy in King Lear, Sir Beauteous Ganymede in The Roaring
Girl, Miklos Paloczi in Maydays, Castel Jaloux in Cyrano de Bergerac,
Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing (also Europe, LA, Washington,
Broadway). 1988-1989 Edward IV in The Plantagenets, 1993-1994 title
role in Wallenstein, Theridamas in Tamburlaine the Great. 1995 Valmont
in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Johannesburg). 1997-98 Comte de Guiche in
Cyrano de Bergerac (also West End). 1999-2001 Polixenes in The Winter's
Tale, Banquo in Macbeth, The Cardinal in The Duchess of Malfi. Television:
Black and Blue, Jack the Ripper, The Bill, London's Burning, Bergerac,
Seekers, Wall of Silence, Crime Traveller, Bramwell, A Skirt Through
History, 2020, Kiszko, Cold Feet, Dangerfield. Film: Wing Commander, Cut Throat Island, Split Second, Bellman and True Radio: Spinning Room of Drunken Lovers, Remember Happiness, The Jew of Malta RYAN McCLUSKEY Florizel Trained: RADA Theatre: Jim O' Connor in The Glass Menagerie (Manchester Library), Eric Birling in An Inspector Calls RSC: 1999: Wraith in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Florizel in The Winter's Tale. Television: Blonde Bombshell, Peak Practice Film: Lexx, The Terrible Hours, Resident Evil Radio: Growing Old Disgracefully, Secret Window Secret Garden, Home Life EMILY BRUNI Perdita/Mamillius Trained: Guildhall School of Music & Drama RSC:
Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, Esmeralda in Camino Real, Lorenzo's
Page in The Spanish Tragedy. Perdita/Mamillius in The Winter's Tale Film: Investigating Sex, Being Considered, Remember Me Radio: Murder on the Homefront, The Immortals, Dianeira, In the Cage Other: Mariana in Measure for Measure (audio). GREGORY DORAN Director Trained: Bristol University and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Theatre:
Productions include: The Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy (Donmar
Warehouse Productions - Comedy Theatre), Titus Andronicus (Market
Theatre Johannesburg and RNT Studio - TMA award for Best Production),
Twelfth Night, Ulysses (in Dermot Bolger's adaptation, Philadelphia), A
Midsummer Night's Dream (NY State University), The Joker of Seville
(Walcott/McDermott musical, Boston/Trinidad), Edward Bond's September
(Canterbury Cathedral), Someone To Watch Over Me (Theatr Clwyd).
Artistic Director of Century Theatre: The Importance of Being Earnest,
Bedroom Farce, An Inspector Calls, Private Lives. Associate Director of
Nottingham Playhouse: Long Day's Journey Into Night, Waiting for Godot,
The Norman Conquests, Hester, The Rose and The Ring, Two Dogs and
Freedom (Sadler's Wells and C4). Acted with the RSC in
1987/8 season: The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, The Jew of Malta,
The New Inn. As Assistant Director 1980: Cymbeline, Romeo and Juliet,
Dr. Faustus, Have. Director: The Odyssey, Henry VIII, Cyrano de
Bergerac (also West End), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale,
Oroonoko, Timon of Athens, Macbeth (also Young Vic in London and US
tour, and screened for Channel 4), and King John. Writing: Co-author (with Antony Sher) of Woza Shakespeare! ROBERT JONES Designer Trained: Central School of Art Theatre:
Seasons as Head of Design at Newcastle, Nottingham and West Yorkshire
Playhouse where designs included Wild Oats, Carousel, The Maple Tree
Game, What Every Woman Knows, The Playboy of the Western World. Also
Private Lives, Look Back in Anger (Bristol Old Vic), A Midsummer
Night's Dream (Nottingham), The Secret Rapture (Los Angeles Drama-Logue
Critics Award), Colours (Abbey, Dublin). For Birmingham Rep: Romeo and
Juliet, Rope, Dangerous Corner, Toad of Toad Hall. For the Bush
Theatre: Democracy, Crossing the Equator. For Hampstead Theatre: A
Collier's Friday Night, Bold Girls, Morning and Evening, The Flight
Into Egypt, Lucky Sods, Back Up the Hearse. Also Getting Attention
(Royal Court), Loot (Theatre of Comedy), East Lynne (Greenwich), The
Rivals (Derby and Philadelphia), When We Are Married (Chichester and
West End), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Piccadilly), The Pope
and the Witch (Comedy), April in Paris (Ambassadors), The Prime of Miss
Jean Brodie (Strand), The Killing of Sister George (Ambassadors),
Jolson (Victoria Palace and Toronto), The Goodbye Girl (Albery), The
Real Inspector Hound/Black Comedy (Comedy), Friday, Saturday, Sunday
(Chichester Festival Theatre) and Proposals (West Yorkshire Playhouse).
RSC: Pentecost, The Herbal Bed (West End and tour), Henry
VIII (also New York and Washington; nominated for Best Costume Design
Olivier Awards 1999), Cyrano de Bergerac (tour and West End), Romeo and
Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale (nominated for Best
Costume Design Olivier Awards 2000), Othello. Opera: L'Elisir D'Amore (ENO) and Der Rosenkavelier (Wuppertal/Gelsenkirchen) Currently designing Playboy of the Western World (RNT), Garrick's Jubilee (RSC) and Noah's Ark (Jim Henson Company) TIM MITCHELL Lighting Designer Lighting
Designer and Lighting Designer and Consultant to Birmingham Repertory
Theatre, where his work includes: Absurd Person Singular, Twelfth
Night, St. Joan, Quarantine, The Whisper of Angels' Wings, Romeo and
Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Old Times and The Atheist's
Tragedy (1995 Gold Medal Winner at the Prague Quadrennial). Freelance
work includes: Noises Off (RNT and No. 1 Tour), Edward II (Sheffield
Crucible), Merrily We Roll Along (Donmar), The Lady Vanishes (The
Mercury Theatre Colchester/No. 1 Tour), The Snowman (Peacock Theatre,
London/Holland), A Small Family Business (Chichester), The Red Balloon
and The Alchemist (RNT), Speaking in Tongues (Derby and Hampstead),
Pajama Game (Toronto/New Victoria Palace), Anna Weiss (Whitehall), Two
Pianos Four Hands (Comedy Theatre), Dames at Sea (Ambassadors), Out
Side of Heaven, Inventing a New Colour (Young Writers' Festival/Royal
Court), Someone To Watch Over Me, When We Are Married, Landslide, The
Winslow Boy and The Entertainer (WYP), Dead Funny, Wallflowering and
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Salisbury), Song at Sunset and The New
Directions Season (Hampstead), Adam Bede, A Passionate Woman, The
Importance of Being Earnest, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Our Boys,
also for the Donmar Warehouse (Derby Playhouse), A Soldier's Song
(Stratford East), Wodehouse on Broadway (BBC TV/ Theatre Royal
Plymouth), As You Like It and Antony and Cleopatra (ESC) and Top Girls
(Plymouth Theatre Royal) RSC: Romeo and Juliet, The Winter's Tale, Henry IV Parts 1 & II, Macbeth and Oroonoko. Opera
and Ballet: The Yeoman of the Guard (D'Oyly Carte Opera), Prometheus
(Berlin Philharmonic), On The Town (LSO/Barbican/BBC TV), Carmen Negra
(Icelandic Opera), A Midsummer Night's Dream, The King and I, The
Gondoliers (Covent Garden Festival), Don Giovanni, The Marriage of
Figaro, Requiem Ballet (Kammeroper Vienna), Les Enfants Prodigues and
Le Rossignol (Royal College of Music).
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