Melbourne Shakespeare Company: The Winter’s Tale

The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, smashes all the rules that we have come to expect from a traditional drama. ‘Unity of time, place and action are hurled aside as we range across the world, from court to country, high tragedy to low comedy, across a time span of sixteen years,’ says Artistic Director, Jennifer Sarah Dean (London’s Globe Theatre). We at Milk Bar Mag were invited to spend a fittingly wet Saturday afternoon at Central Park in Malvern to enjoy the exciting new production.

Laden with a picnic rug, raincoats, umbrellas and a few choice snacks, we settled on a cozy patch beneath a tree. Being quite unfamiliar with this particular Shakespeare work, we were ready to be entertained with a fresh narrative. Cue jazz band and a trio of performers singing Hozier’s ‘Take Me to Church’ – say what?! That’s right, Musical Director Natalie Calia (Ich War Noch Niemals in New York) embraces a broad range of classic hits from Ed Sheeran to Tom Jones to bring this story to life.

The Winter’s Tale is the original soap opera. Like many of Shakespeare’s comedies, the core conflict revolves around a mix-up. In this case, it rather horrifically leads to King Leontes of Sicily accusing his queen, Hermione, of adultery with his childhood friend and King of Bohemia, Polixenes. Leontes also orders Camillo, a Sicilian Lord, to poison Polixenes, but Camillo instead warns him and they both flee to Bohemia. Leontes publicly accuses his wife of infidelity and banishes their newborn daughter, who he suspects is not his. Their son dies from sickness brought on by the stress of his father’s accusations; Hermione then dies of a broken heart. The Oracle reveals to Leontes that everyone was in fact innocent, he’s just an idiot, and he will have no heir until his lost daughter is found. With me so far?

The baby girl, Perdita, has been abandoned on the coast of Bohemia. The man enacting the deed has a last-minute change of heart but is chased away in one of Shakespeare’s most famous stage directions: ‘Exit, pursued by a bear’. Perdita is rescued and adopted by a shepherd and his son. Fast forward 16 years later. Polixenes reports to Camillo that his son, Prince Florizel has fallen in love with a shepherd girl who is none other than Perdita (didn’t see that one coming did you). Polixenes angrily intervenes the couple’s betrothal by ordering his son to never see Perdita again. With Camillo’s help, the couple flee to Sicily, followed by pretty much everyone else. All is revealed and forgiven. The company visit a new statue of Hermione causing Leontes to become distraught, but then miraculously the statue comes to life and the queen is restored.

After a somewhat disorienting start (there are a LOT of characters and there were three musical numbers before any dialogue) we settled into the amusing play. Unfortunately, so did the rain. Credit to the performers for carrying on and enthusiastically embracing the weather for as long as they did. At the three-quarter mark, when puddles had formed on our picnic rug and the actors were soaked, the performance was called off – just when it was getting good! Melbourne Shakespeare Company kindly offered refunds or rescheduled tickets to those who attended.

Wrapping this review up, Melanie Gleeson was a particular stand out as the wholly wronged Queen Hermione, while Tref Gare and Emma Austin provided the laughs as the raucous shepherd and his son. Simple sets and costumes, featuring handy name labels, tied together a wonderfully quaint production in the park, which quickly sold out. Melbourne Shakespeare Company are to be commended for giving Melburnians an authentic Shakespearean experience, with a modern twist, that makes for a fun and affordable afternoon or evening. Just make sure you check the weather report first!

The Winter’s Tale
Central Park, 148 Burke Road, Malvern, 3145
melbourneshakespeare.com/the-winters-tale