THEATRE REVIEW: THE WINTER'S TALE
10 Jun'10

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating 4 out of 5

STRATFORD — Like a host of directors before her, Marti Maraden doesn’t quite succeed in transforming William Shakespeare’s THE WINTER'S TALE into the “glorious summer” the playwright might have envisioned. But in a production that opened in the intimate Tom Patterson Theatre on Wednesday, she does succeed in giving her audience a remarkably satisfying reading of a play that does not often top anyone’s list of Shakespeare’s favourite works.

That she accomplishes this largely through a deep respect for the text and for her actors, and not through any high-concept grandstanding by her design team, makes her accomplishment all the more impressive — and all the more appealing.

From the top of the show — when King Leontes of Sicilia (thoughtfully played by Ben Carlson) is suddenly and all but inexplicably overcome with irrational jealousy over the friendship sprung up between his wife, Hermione (Yanna McIntosh), and his best friend, King Polixenes of Bohemia (Dan Chameroy) — Maraden puts complete faith in the playwright and in her players. Three hours later, when the high-flown tale of jealousy, child abandonment, deception, coincidence and a vengeful god has run its course, that faith yields an ending that is both heartfelt and deeply moving, for all that it’s taken a little too long to arrive. This, despite some plot twists that certainly strain credulity — or they would in the hands of a lesser cast.

But in the role of Leontes, Carlson creates a completely believable and tragic victim of a tsunami of jelaousy that washes in from parts unknown to destroy the world he has inhabited, taking with it not only his wife and children but his most treasured friendship as well. Meanwhile, as his ill-used Queen and one of his victims, McIntosh triumphs as a Hermione who refuses to be a victim, regardless of how she might be victimized, driven to forgiveness by a deep and abiding love. Ably supported by Chameroy, Sean Arbuckle, Randy Hughson, Seana McKenna and a host of others in the first act, these two talented performers set the scene for a second act that is as bright as the first is dark.

Set 16 years later, it tells the story of Perdita, the daughter born by the tragic Hermione and abandoned by Leontes to be raised by rustic shepherds — and of the love she inspires in the son and heir of the best friend cruelly spurned by her unknown father. Played by Cara Ricketts — clearly cast for more obvious attributes than her skill with the text — this is nonetheless still a Perdita capable of commanding the attention heaped upon her, not only from her besotted swain, Florizel (Ian Lake), but from her stepfather (Brian Tree) and her dim-witted step-brother (Mike Shara, in a delightfully loopy turn).

The text gives Maraden plenty with which to provide distraction on the rare occasions when things get bogged down in a muddy and too-rustic plot, and she makes full use of the character of the cut-purse Autolycus, played by Tom Rooney with off-hand and winning charm.

While Maraden may not ask her design team to pull technical rabbits out of hats, she nonetheless uses their talents to maximum effect, falling back on designer John Pennoyer’s colourful palette for effects that are sometimes witty, sometimes elegant and sometimes breathtaking. She also makes full use of Louise Guinand’s understated skill at the lighting board, further supporting her work with Todd Charlton’s sound design and the music of Marc Desormeaux as well as some elaborate folk dancing, presumably choreographed by Shona Morris.

Once again, Maraden has used text and talent to prove that while every work from the hand of a master artist may not be considered a masterpiece, there are definitely elements of a masterpiece in every work by a master artist.