{"id":7796,"date":"2013-10-01T11:29:18","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T18:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=7796"},"modified":"2013-10-01T11:29:18","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T18:29:18","slug":"a-winters-tale-a-double-header-at-calshakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/a-winters-tale-a-double-header-at-calshakes\/","title":{"rendered":"A WINTER\u2019S TALE a \u2018double header\u2019 at CalShakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A WINTER\u2019S TALE<\/em> by William Shakespeare. Directed by Patricia McGregor. CalShakes, Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda. (510) 548-9666. www.calshakes.org<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

September 25 \u2013October 20, 2013 <\/strong><\/p>\n

A WINTER\u2019S TALE<\/em> a \u2018double header\u2019 at CalShakes <\/strong><\/p>\n

When was the last time you saw a Shakespearean play produced as it was written? \u00a0Difficult question to answer? In modern times the Bard\u2019s plays have tread the boards as \u201cconcept\u201d performances and those concept performances have ranged from brilliant to outrageous and all descriptions in between. Then there are concept performances by Patricia McGregor that defy description and CalShakes\u2019 production of the preposterous A Winter\u2019s Tale <\/em>fits in between with a touch of brilliance and an outrageous second act. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In Shakespeare\u2019s time \u201ca winter\u2019s tale\u201d suggests \u201can old wife\u2019s tale\u2019 and what you hear is hardly true and often embellished.\u00a0 The play is divided into two parts with 16 years intervening. The first locale is King Leontes\u2019s court in Sicily infused with high drama and the second the carefree land of Bohemia depicted by a May Pole with multicolored ribbons.\u00a0 This being the end of the regular baseball season referring to the play as a \u2018double-header\u201d seems appropriate.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the play begins director Patricia McGregor (her sister Paloma is listed as movement director) has members of the cast warm-up the audience with a juggling act and audience participation. Center stage is dominated by a psychedelic three level tower and stage right a small version a recreational trailer. The trailer may symbolize that we are going to be taken for a ride.\u00a0 <\/strong>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Omoz\u00e9 idehenre, Margo Hall and L. Peter Callender<\/p>\n

Before we take that ride to Bohemia drama unfolds when King Leontes (L. Peter Callender) and his wife Hermione (Omoze Idehenre) have entertained his best friend King Polixenes of Bohemia (Aldo \u00a0Billingslea) for the past nine\u00a0 months. Leontes accuses Hermoine of making him a cuckold with Polixenes being the father of her unborn child. \u00a0No matter how earnestly Paulina (Margo Hall)\u00a0 Hermoine\u2019s lady-in-waiting defends the Queen, Leontes\u2019 rage increases. Margo Hall matches Callendar\u2019s histrionics line for line creating a dynamic confrontation. The female child is born and rejected. \u00a0Hermoine and the child Mamillius (Akili Moore alternating with Zion Richardson) heir to the throne die of broken hearts. The female child is whisked away by the courtiers and is rescued by a poor shepherd (Callender) and his son (Margo Hall). Eight cast members play double roles and are part of the ensemble. End of act one. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In the intervening 16 years the babe, now named Perdita (Tristan Cunningham) has blossomed into a beauty and has fallen in love with Florizel (Tyee Tilghman), Polixenes\u2019 son and heir to his throne. True love never runs smoothly. The Prince Florizel cannot marry the commoner Perdita. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Before all gets resolved and the statue of Hermione mystically comes to life (after all the play is listed as a romance) Shakespeare introduces a rogue Autolycus (Christopher Michael Rivera) who is a peddler and a pick-pocket who becomes instrumental in the resolution of the play. Although Callender and Hall give yeoman performances, Rivera is the spark that keeps the story interesting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director McGregor has given the cast free range and the acting is extremely broad best described as emoting.\u00a0 This Shakespeare play is often remembered as the one that includes a bear in the cast. The tall imposing Aldo Billingslea plays the bear with aplomb as he chases a hapless courtier off the stage to devour him. <\/strong><\/p>\n

All in all the drama, romance, redemption and staging make this a tongue-in-cheek evening worth seeing. Running time of this truncated production is 2 hours and 30 minutes. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Kedar K. Adour, MD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>
\nOmoz\u00e9 idehenre as Hermione, Margo Hall as Paulina, and L. Peter Callender as Leontes in Cal Shakes\u2019 A Winter\u2019s Tale<\/em> by William Shakespeare, directed by Patricia McGregor; photo by Kevin Berne<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A WINTER\u2019S TALE by William Shakespeare. Directed by Patricia McGregor. CalShakes, Bruns Amphitheater, 100 California Shakespeare Theater Way, Orinda. (510) 548-9666. www.calshakes.org. September 25 \u2013October 20, 2013 A WINTER\u2019S TALE…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-kedar-k-adour"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"