The Winter's Tale by The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (review)

Director Christopher Luscombe, an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, made powerful use of the new space in this production, employing minimalist sets and relying on lighting, costumes, and music to distinguish between the two halves of The Winter's Tale. With actors garbed in fi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Shakespeare bulletin 2019-10, Vol.37 (3), p.425-428
Main Author: Bolton, Matthew J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actors
Allegory
Audiences
Luscombe, Christopher
Shakespeare plays
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
Theater
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Director Christopher Luscombe, an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, made powerful use of the new space in this production, employing minimalist sets and relying on lighting, costumes, and music to distinguish between the two halves of The Winter's Tale. With actors garbed in fitted jackets and sweeping pelisses, Rainy Edward's costume designs called to mind the Regency era. Since Jane Austen adaptations have come something of a mainstay of Cincinnati theaters, this was a shrewd choice: the costumes primed the audience to expect a refined comedy of manners and made Leontes's overtly sexual jealousies all the more jarring. No description available context, Leontes's suspicions about his wife and his best friend read as a form of mid-life crisis, a perverse way for the king to act on his long-buried insecurities and to break out of his ennui.
ISSN:0748-2558
1931-1427
1931-1427
DOI:10.1353/shb.2019.0046