Do3: 6 May 7.30 The Winter's Tale

[french frank]

No Shakespeare for ages, then three come along at the same time. This seems to be a repeat from 2016 (and I think I have an R3 recording from earlier than that - ah, I see it was 2004, so not an overspeedy return).

'Treading new dramatic ground The Winter's Tale embraces tragedy, poetry, folklore, magic realism, music, comedy and the infamous stage direction "exit pursued by a bear" '.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b078wtnn

[DracoM]

This is an immensely difficult play both to produce and act in, in some ways it is better to read it....
The syntax is rich, can be weighty and convoluted, the imagery dense, no 'less is more' in this one!!
BUT
Loved the music, the chatter, the accents, and the revelation of Hermione was not done to death but was let to speak of itself. Brave but IMO it worked better on radio than it can on stage. Good Florizel and Perdita, and an excellent Leontes. Frighteningly choleric at first and then broken. Big transition.

So, the R3 produciotn got as close to working as I have heard.
Pacey, excellent, experienced 'radio' voices and well distinguished timbres so we could latch on to the huge cast and not lose threads.

Well worth it.

[french frank]

Quite agree with that, Draco. I thought Danny Sapani's Leontes was outstanding - to 'frighteningly choleric' and 'broken', I would add 'tender' at the end, yet all achieved with conviction. He was the linchpin of the production for me.

Yes, Tim van Eyken's music/singing (guitar and melodeon?) was very attractive - and he acquitted himself well as Autolycus, though I don't see that he had much experience as an actor previously.

[gurnemanz]

This is an immensely difficult play both to produce and act in, in some ways it is better to read it....
The syntax is rich, can be weighty and convoluted, the imagery dense, no 'less is more' in this one!!
BUT
Loved the music, the chatter, the accents, and the revelation of Hermione was not done to death but was let to speak of itself. Brave but IMO it worked better on radio than it can on stage. Good Florizel and Perdita, and an excellent Leontes. Frighteningly choleric at first and then broken. Big transition.

So, the R3 produciotn got as close to working as I have heard.
Pacey, excellent, experienced 'radio' voices and well distinguished timbres so we could latch on to the huge cast and not lose threads.

Well worth it.

Also enjoyed this radio production, but I'm pretty sure I would not prefer either radio or reading it (as we did in our A Level class 50 years ago) to seeing it translated into drama live before my eyes. The lines were written to be spoken. Over the years I have seen about half a dozen productions on the stage (Also the BBC version on DVD). It may present challenges to actors and directors but it is exciting to see how these challenges are met. The productions I have seen have all had something to offer by way of new insights. We greatly enjoyed, for instance, the brilliant 2005 all-male Propellor Theatre production in the intimate surroundings of the Watermill, Newbury. A male actor played Mamillius, Time and Perdita. Just reading it, you may get your head round Shakespearean syntax more readily (as when reading the Sonnets which are written to be read) but you obviously miss out on the visual elements which are so important - the contrast between court and rustic scenes, the physical comedy, the dancing, the statue coming to life, the bear .....