Review: THE WINTER'S TALE at The Folger Theatre

After a multi-year renovation to the Folger Library campus, the Folger Theatre welcomes audiences back to its jewel box theatre with The Winter’s Tale – a story of friendship, betrayal, loss and second chances. With glorious production elements and strong performances, this production reminds audiences of everything that is unique and significant about attending a show at the Folger.

The Winter’s Tale is complex – its opening acts are fraught and tragic; its final scenes are light and romantic. Because it doesn’t fit into a neat box, The Winter’s Tale is considered a “problem play.” Director Tamilla Woodard and her able cast effectively bridge the two halves as a “journey to second chances.”

In The Winter’s Tale, the loving marriage between King Leontes and his wife Hermione is torn apart when Leontes wrongly suspects his pregnant wife of being unfaithful to him with his lifelong friend Polixenes, King of Bohemia. Leontes tries to persuade his trusted advisor Camillo to kill Polixenes. Camillo is convinced of the queen's innocence and warns Polixenes; together they leave for Bohemia. Leontes puts Hermione on trial, imprisons her, and after she gives birth to their daughter, he casts out the baby.

Flash forward 16 years – the banished daughter, Perdita, has been raised by shepherds. She and Polixenes’s son meet and fall in love. We learn Perdita's true identity and it paves the way for reconciliation among friends and family.

The production is anchored by Hadi Tabbal as the jealous and tortured Leontes – doubting his wife and friend while courting popular support; Antoinette Crowe-Legacy as the regal, assured and falsely-accused Queen Hermione; and Drew Kopas as the easygoing lifelong friend Polixenes, whose loyalty is questioned.

Standouts include Cody Nickell who has heft and authority as Camillo as he must choose whether to believe Leontes or Polixenes. The steely Kate Eastwood Norris is memorable as Hermione’s fiercest defender, Paulina. Stephen Patrick Martin as the shepherd and Nicholas Gerwitz as his son are goofy and fun with a lot of heart. Reza Salazar as the mischievous Autolycus encourages the audience to chime in on his trickery and clowning.

Richard Bradford and Clarence Michael Payne share the role of young prince Mamillius. They also have a memorable and vulnerable moment at the start of the second act, outfitted in a flowing robe and barrister’s wig, portraying Time – a key factor in many aspects of The Winter’s Tale.

Kayleandra White and Jonathan Del Palmer are the young lovers, Perdita and Forizell. The actors’ youthfulness and relative inexperience show. White needs to project to be heard. Del Palmer does not need to indicate with wink, nod and thrust that the Bard is being bawdy – we get it.

Raul Abrego, Jr.’s production design makes great use of the two immobile pillars that remain part of the Folger’s stage. Here, he wraps stairs with Lucite railings around the dark pillars and also creates a second tier to draw the eye and some of the action up. The design provides great flexibility. Max Doolittle’s lighting design meshes beautifully with the set, washing the doors and walls with differing deep primary colors. Sarah Cubbage’s costume design adds vibrant color and prints giving warmth to this winter. Matthew M. Nielson’s sound design gets to play with foreboding, atonal sounds to indicate King Leontes’ unraveling and fun nods to Prince and contemporary music in the later, more light-hearted scenes.

“Our reopening season intentionally investigates the transformational power of stories, and I couldn’t think of a better play to mirror the dynamic journey this organization is in the midst of,” says Karen Ann Daniels, Folger Theatre’s artistic director. “Tamilla’s vision for The Winter’s Tale engage(s) audiences in thinking about where and when we’ve needed second chances in our own lives.”

In The Winter’s Tale we see both an unspooling and a knitting together. We see tragic loss and comic lightness. This able cast, under the direction of Tamilla Woodard, is energetic and assured in this long-awaited reopening of the Folger’s home.

Runtime: 2 hours, 20 minutes with one 15-minute intermission

A WINTERS TALE by William Shakespeare, directed by Tamilla Woodard is produced by The Folger Theatre. It runs through December 17 at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. For ticket purchases, performance times, Covid protocols, and special performances, visit the Folger Theatre website: https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/the-winters-tale/.

THE WINTERS TALE is part of the Shakespeare Everywhere Festival that runs through the end of 2023. The Folger is joining artistic and cultural institutions across the District in producing 12 Shakespeare shows in 12 weeks.

Photo credit: Brittany Diliberto