Gamm’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ told masterfully told

Posted 4/28/16

Shakespeare is famous for his comedies and tragedies. “The Winter’s Tale,” his next-to-last play, combines the two in a masterful way. It takes a clever director and accomplished actors to …

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Gamm’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ told masterfully told

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Shakespeare is famous for his comedies and tragedies. “The Winter’s Tale,” his next-to-last play, combines the two in a masterful way. It takes a clever director and accomplished actors to masterfully interpret what the Bard is trying to convey to his audiences.

Director/actor Fred Sullivan Jr. once again joins his fellow actor/artistic director Tony Estrella to give us a true taste of a Shakespearean buffet, filled with drama, intrigue, romance, comedy and some theatre magic that pays tribute to the greatest playwright of all time.

Sullivan has successfully divided the play into two parts, over two and a half hours, giving us a tense, emotion-packed first act that continues 16 years (or a brief intermission) later with clever verbal and physical humor that leads to an emotional reconciliation.

Estrella turns the direction over to Sullivan and takes on the difficult role of Leontes, the paranoid king who believes beyond doubt that his wife Hermione (Karen Carpenter) is having an affair with his close friend, King Polixenes (Jesse Hinson).

The enraged Leontes sends his wife off to prison, exiles his newborn daughter to Bohemia, plots to murder Polixenes, and goes into a deep funk.

To Hermoine’s defense comes Paulina (Jeanine Kane), to me one of the strongest women in literature, challenging the king while protecting her queen.

Act 2 opens 16 years later, with baby Perdita having grown into a beautiful woman after being found in the snow (Yes, there is snow) by a kindly old shepherd (Mark S. Cartier). She falls in love with a young man who turns out to be more than a simple shepherd (Jeff Church), and the plot thickens.

One of Shakespeare’s funniest characters, the thief/con man Autolycus, is played by one of Rhode Island’s funniest actors, who has also played some pretty serious Shakespearean roles, Fred Sullivan Jr. Watch him when he picks a clown’s pockets and more.

It is a lively second act, filled with comedy, music and dancing and leading to an emotional conclusion.

Those who shun Shakespeare should give this play a look-see. It is accessible, thanks to the near-perfect diction of the actors who “speak the speech” clearly and precisely. It is funny. It is colorful, thanks to the costumes by Jesse Darrell Jarbadan.

The set by Patrick Lynch is minimal, but perfect for the up-close action. Actors speak their thoughts directly to the audience, as Shakespeare intended. And watch out for the bear.

“The Winter’s Tale” is at the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St. in Pawtucket, through May 29. Call 723-4266 for reservations. You will have to look long and far to find better Shakespeare than this.

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