“A sad tale’s best for winter,” says Mamillius in Shakespeare’s play, The Winter’s Tale. And I’m certainly inclined to agree after spending a chilly February evening taking in a performance of the tragicomedy in Bristol’s iconic Tobacco Factory Theatre.
I’d consider myself quite well-read when it comes to Shakespeare, having studied at least one module on The Bard every semester for the three years I was at university. However, The Winter’s Tale is a play that never crossed my path, and I went in to this particular performance knowing next to nothing about the plot.
Sometimes, that’s the best way. From just moments into the play, I found myself taken aback as leading character Leontes – played hauntingly by Felix Hayes – began to display his first signs of intense jealousy over the friendship between his wife Hermione and his childhood friend, Polixenes.
Hayes gave a chilling, standout performance that I found I couldn’t take my eyes off, as he swiftly descended into madness throughout Act 1 of the play.
He proved himself a worthy Shakespearean performer, as I was instantly reminded of Lady Macbeth’s ‘Out, damned spot’ during Leontes’ ‘Too hot, too hot’ soliloquy, while Hayes wrung and scrubbed at his hands in agitation.
I also have to mention the costumes: it did not go unnoticed that as Leontes becomes more and more afflicted, his clothing similarly grows more and more dishevelled, with his smart shirt coming untucked and then later unbuttoned completely – a small detail, but one that really bolstered the performance.
I’ll admit that I (embarrassingly) flinched in my seat on more than one occasion as Hayes’ Leontes suddenly switched from terse muttering to an angry outburst – much of the time addressed towards the audience.
The intensity of the play was helped by the fact that I was in the front row – and at the Tobacco Factory, this put me pretty much on the stage and amid the action.
This small theatre feels like it was made for a play like The Winter’s Tale, especially if you know very little about the Shakespeare play.
All the cast in turns addressed lines of their dialogue directly towards the audience, as if they were in conversation with us, and at times this even involved drawing up a seat right in front of those of us in the front row, as if we were getting our own private performance.
And while watching Leontes unravelling in such close proximity felt a little uncomfortable to watch at times, this closeness also provided comic relief during the second, comic act of the show, as trickster Autolycus, hilariously portrayed by Stu Mcloughlin, interacted with the audience.
He even handed one man sat next to me a cup he had drunk out of, eliciting a ripple of laughter from those sat in my area.
Not knowing much about The Winter’s Tale beforehand, I did find it quite jarring going from such a chilling first act, into a comic second act that almost felt like an entirely different play.
I found myself almost forgetting about Leontes as I watched the farcical Clown and Shepherd characters deliver laugh-out-loud performances, and everyone dancing a jolly dance on stage during the scene of the sheep-shearing festival.
And to then return to the court of Leontes for the conclusion of the play, and see an entirely changed character receive a happy ending surrounded by his family, was actually not the direction I thought the play was going to go in.
However, what I enjoyed most was the straight and unfanciful directorial approach to this adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. For those like myself who are new to The Winter’s Tale, I found it a great benefit that they didn’t choose to make any ‘outlandish’ creative decisions, and kept the staging minimalist to ensure the focus was on the absorbing performances of each of the cast members.
If you want to see The Winter’s Tale, it is on now at The Tobacco Factory until Saturday, March 29, with tickets costing £20, or £18 for concessions.