What an appropriate title for a Shakespeare play – especially with the Minnesota winter we’ve been having. Although the play is rooted in a classic romantic story, I cannot say that I feel the same adoration for the several inches of snow and piercing cold temperatures that still linger outside.
I’m ready for summer. We’re ALL ready for summer.
But, it didn’t stop us from enjoying the Minnesota treasure that is the Guthrie Theater. My daughter has been part of an Honors Communications class at her high school and has a new-found interest in William Shakespeare after an in-class readying of Romeo and Juliet. The timing of her birthday with the Guthrie’s presentation of The Winter’s Tale was a perfect match for a Saturday afternoon matinee.
This would be my first time actually seeing a play in the new facility. I was lucky to see many presentations in the old Guthrie Theater near Uptown, but had not made it yet to the new theater. The Winter’s Tale was presented inside the Wurtele Thrust Stage – which shares nearly identical layout to the original stage in the old building. By having the stage protrude out into the audience, it presents a unique viewing opportunity for the play. The sets are much more three dimensional than other productions, since many sides are visible.
Before finding our seats, I was hanging out in the lobby area and happened to notice a familiar face. It was Lee Paulson – my high school english teacher who is also a friend of the family and an icon in my local hometown of Glenwood, Minnesota. Lee was the main director of plays for both the high school and the local volunteer theater company but he is now long-since retired and enjoys seeing the work of others. We had a nice, brief chat before time cut us short and requested that we take our seats.
The play itself was a mix of wonderful moments along with (unfortunately) many dull and confusing ones. Shakespeare plays are something that takes a tremendous amount of concentration to keep up with the action – especially when the play is staged with the actors simply reciting the lines without any physical context. I do generally like Shakespeare plays, but feel that I better understand when the actors support the words with physical acting that ensures the intent is clearly conveyed. This production had long stretches of single actors going through long passages alone. Combine that with Shakespeare’s interest in describing (at length) the politics of the story – much of it was lost on me.
The production elements were outstanding. The director chose to stage the story in the 1950/60s of the Kennedy era in the US. The aesthetic was wonderful and fit well with the political nature of the story. The visuals and costumes were a joy to watch – even with their toned-down color palette that marked the time. The 2nd act moved the location and time (16 years later) to “Bohemia” – which was supported with a transformation into a hippy commune in the late 60s. The stage was now full of color and the costumes provided the stereotypical “flower child” aesthetic. It was a joy to watch and definitely the high-point of the production.
The Guthrie always has strong actors, and there were several in this production who shined. It takes a lot of talent to convey the style of Shakespeare and turn it into something a modern audience can both understand and appreciate. Helen Carey as Paulina was the primary stand-out as both the characteristics of her role and her ability to clearly convey the words were a joy to watch.
In the end, the play was somewhat at the mercy of the source material – as the story is not all that exciting. It is political before it is a good romance and spends so much time explaining the various loyalties each character has within the whole matrix, there is little time left to move through the events that mark plot progression.
We ended the day with a trip to a “steak house” – since my daughter was convinced that she deserved a “real” steak for her birthday. It’s fun to see her finally exploring quality food (along with more exotic tastes than is found in a box of mac-n-cheese), but I would have preferred a slightly cheaper desire. We ended up at Pittsburgh Blue in Maple Grove and each enjoyed a Filet.
It was a hearty meal that worked well with both the nature of The Winter’s Tale and the cold, outside weather of Minnesota.
