THEATER

Pearl Theater
A Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare

"A moment of jealousy and an act of anger lead to a lifetime of regret for Leontes, the rash king who destroys his family on a whim. But as time glides gently on, fate , love, and a few true friends, are ready to work wonders to restore happiness to his world. In THE WINTER’S TALE, Shakespeare’s later-career wise and winsome fairytale, nothing is truly lost—certainly not love—if only we know where to seek it."



The New York Times' review...

Review: ‘The Winter’s Tale’ and Its Wronged Queen, via the Pearl Theater Company

By ALEXIS SOLOSKIFEB. 22, 2015

Sommeliers, please advise: Which wine pairs best with simmering sexual jealousy? What digestif should you serve to a romantic rival? Vinous questions bubble up during Michael Sexton’s production of “The Winter’s Tale” at the Pearl Theater. The first three acts play out at a tipsy dinner party that could rival “Disgraced” for discomfiture. At least these Shakespeareans make it to the dessert course before things go seriously awry.

In a handsome if hodgepodge dining room (courtesy of the set designer Brett J. Banakis), the Sicilian king Leontes (Peter Francis James) entreats his pregnant wife, Hermione (Jolly Abraham), to convince the Bohemian king Polixenes (Bradford Cover) to stay a little longer. But jealousy, that green-eyed monster, has got Leontes in a stranglehold. He’s convinced himself that Hermione and Polixenes have cuckolded him. So he accuses and imprisons his wife, imperiling her and their boy, Mamillius, and their unborn daughter. Anyone for seconds?

Mr. Sexton’s production is elegant, inventive and visually interesting. Bohemia’s seacoast is conjured by shifting and dust-sheeting most of the furniture. The famous bear is summoned in a riot of fur coats. And yet, blame the weather, blame the title, blame the Pearl’s location on an especially frigid block on West 42nd Street, but this staging sometimes seems chilly, too.

Mr. James is terrific at finding the excitement within a line of verse. Leontes behaves monstrously, but Mr. James makes him somehow sympathetic, a man who, as his servant Camillo (a fine Tom Nelis) says, is “in rebellion with himself.” (Note to the Pearl: If Mr. James hasn’t played Othello yet, he should.) But not all the other actors can dredge up such riches in the text, so the pacing sometimes drags. The sheepshearing scenes — despite the comic talents of Adam Green, Dominic Cuskern and Steve Cuiffo — seem studied rather than rollicking. And everyone seems mildly embarrassed by the musical numbers.

The storytelling could perhaps be clearer. (Walking to the subway after a preview performance, I overheard a couple of spectators explaining the plot to their companions.) But “The Winter’s Tale” is a hard story to tell, a tragedy that takes an abrupt detour toward amnesty and grace. Mr. Sexton’s may not deliver quite the “deal of wonder” the final act promises, but his show is a pretty good deal all the same.