The Winter’s Tale, Hampstead - review

Unfortunately here Propeller's  all-male approach doesn't quite work, with much of Shakespeare's pastoral comedy feeling positively schizophrenic
10 July 2012

Propeller’s account of The Winter’s Tale, first seen in 2005 and now revived with a fresh cast, is lively and inventive, albeit uneven. This is an inherent feature of the play but here the imbalance seems positively schizophrenic.

The first half is a pretty dry vision of jealousy in courtly Sicily, and the second mostly a romp, packed with details that embellish Shakespeare’s original.

The production fully conveys the play’s pastoral comedy. Indeed, there are moments where it threatens to turn into a stage version of a bucolic musical festival — Glastonbury with more wildlife. There are saxophones and sonorous sheep (baa-ing cast members clad in aran jumpers).

Given that the setting is Bohemia, it’s perhaps no surprise to be treated to such a lavish idea of rhapsody. Tony Bell’s Autolycus, the snake in this Eden, is a louche rocker who looks like Gene Simmons from Kiss. He’s show-stealingly outrageous. There is nice work from Ben Allen and John Dougall, and Robert Hands captures the jealous rage of the Siclian king Leontes, who’s a tyrant of the more sophisticated sort.

But Propeller’s all-male approach doesn’t serve The Winter’s Tale ideally. Although there are laughs aplenty, some of the play’s pathos and neat structural parallels are lost in an insufficiently focused second half.

The Winter's Tale runs until July 21 (020 7722 9301).

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