On Thursday evening the theatre company 'Cheek By Jowl' performed William Shakespeare's The Winters Tale in El Teatro de Romea situated in the historic part of Murcia. The theatre is grand and was built in1862. It was through a chance conversation that we - some members of Actor Community Theatre Group - learnt of this one night performance. We were lucky. It was a tremendous evening and we left with a 'buzz'. Afterwards we went for a drink in one of the restaurants that are in the Plaza Julián Romea and this was fortunate because many of the actors too came in for a drink.
I was not familiar with this play and it was to be our first Shakespearean experience in Spain. It was in English, sub-titles in Spanish were above the stage for the many locals that were there. Many of them being young and maybe at university. Whatever there understanding may have been the many 'standing ovations' at the end showed theirs and our pleasure at a great and outstanding performance.
It was in modern dress and the set was simple and it worked. The noise of the storms was loud and the effects of lighting to change the atmosphere worked very well. The cast moved around the stage with style, energy and coordination. The scene with the bear feasting on the shepherd was done with projection and noise. The court room scene used a camera and with a screen behind the speaker. All so very effective.
It has been described as one of his problem plays and grouped in with comedies, but some commentators have added the label 'as one of his late romances). The first part is heavily psychological and the second part is comedic and there is a happy ending. The closing acts are fun with a strumming guitar and song and dancing. The Shepherd and his boy invoked the Irish brogue when discussing two missing sheep. We had a ceilidh performed for us and then the ending.
The origins of this play may have been inspired by Robert Greene's pastoral romance produced in 1588 that was much earlier than Winter's Tale which did not appear until The First Folio in 1623. I know there are disputes as to who wrote when and with whom, but does it really matter? Of course, for the purists and lecturers it just provides something to speculate about. After all plagiarism is rife!
We came away pleased, excited and so grateful that we had made the effort. As far as we were concerned it was a stunning performance and we enjoyed all of it.
It was directed by Declan Donnellan with set design by Nick Ormerod.
We liked it, but Helen Shaw's review said that Brooklyn gave it a frosty reception and the Chicago Tribune only granted three stars. But what do they know after all look who their President is!
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