Under a towering grove of old-growth trees, on an exceptionally balmy evening, the Summit Players were hurriedly making preparations for their latest production of free Shakespeare in Wisconsin parks. This year’s production is a lesser-known play, The Winter’s Tale.
As in past years, the play has been trimmed to a 75-minute show without intermission. This makes it a perfect length for squirmy kids (who are a most welcome part of the audience), and for older audiences who want to transport themselves into a brief foray into Shakespeare-lite.
This is the sixth year in which Summit Players has launched an extensive road trip to Wisconsin state parks. In 2021, the troupe will perform in 24 different parks across the state. As might be expected, the minimal sets and costumes are extremely portable. A handful of actors often fill more than one role. Sometimes, an actor will appear almost continually onstage while dressed as one character or another.
The Winter’s Tale was originally scheduled to be performed in 2020 but then canceled due to the pandemic. In past years, this non-profit theater has staged far more well-known Shakespeare plays, such as Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, and Twelfth Night.
On this particular evening, even a lesser-known Shakespeare still was able to attract a crowd of about 120 adults and children, all scattered about on the lawn. Some people brought chairs, while other lounged on blankets.
Classifying The Winter’s Tale has troubled scholars for centuries. Not quite a comedy or a tragedy, it is often referred to as a “late romance.” This was, indeed, one of Shakespeare’s final plays.
Although the plot may not be well known, the play contains one of theater’s most famous stage directions: “Exit, pursued by a bear.”
Long before the bear comes into play, the action unfolds in the kingdom of Sicilia. Maura Atwood, looking and acting every bit a royal, plays Queen Hermione. The queen is wrongly suspected of adultery by her jealous husband, King Leontes. Actor Michael Nicholas is a convincing Leontes, who later realizes that his rage has caused the death of his son, not to mention his pregnant queen. Jackson Hoemann makes the most of his role as a neighboring king. He is horrified to learn from one of Leontes’s subjects that he is supposed to be killed for his transgressions. Wisely, he returns home.
Many scenes are staged for comic effect. This reaches a climax later in the show when a pair of cuddly plush sheep magically sing and dance. The bear makes an appearance, too. But he is basically hidden behind a set, with only his ears and claws visible to the crowd.
Switching back to the cast, Caroline Norton makes a fetching Perdita, the formerly abandoned infant of King Leontes. She has grown up as a shepherd girl in Bohemia. As a young girl, her beauty mesmerizes King Polixene’s son, Florizel (exuberantly played by Cole Conrad). Eventually, Perdita’s royal background is discovered and the two plan to wed. Even Queen Hermione re-enters the picture before the curtain closes. It turns out that she has not died as was previously announced. A joyous King Leontes realizes the error of his ways and embraces his queen. He asks to be forgiven by his former friend, Polixenes.
During the show, theatergoers are kept on their toes (figuratively) by large signs that seek audience participation. Following a brief, pre-show warm-up using a couple of the signs, the audience is then invited to respond with cheers, loud muttering, or even bird calls at certain moments during the show.
In script cuts and while directing the show, Maureen Kilmurry highlights the show’s comic aspects. Many of the funnier moments are sparked by ingenious costuming by Amelia Strahan, or simple yet effective backdrops by Carl Eiche. Theatergoers who choose to venture Into the Woods with the Summit Players are certainly going to experience unlimited evening of fun.
