The Winter's Tale... in midsummer

By: Jeannette de Beauvoir, July 28, 2011

Jeannette de Beauvoir - Payomet performers evoke ancient Greece and Shakespearean England in The Winters Tale, playing this summer through August 13.

Okay, so it’s not one of Shakespeare’s more famous plays. But you’re guaranteed a terrific evening’s entertainment at the Payomet Performing Arts Center in North Truro if you go and check out The Winter’s Tale!

The storyline is convoluted, but the cast will take you by the hand and lead you through it seamlessly. King Leontes is a man on the edge, accusing his wife and best friend of having an affair (they aren’t), screaming at his retainer to poison the friend (he doesn’t), and generally indicating that he’s just a short step away from the looney bin.

By the time he’s informed by the Oracle of Delphi that his perceptions were—shall we say, skewed—it’s too late: he’s abandoned his daughter to to prison, his wife Hermione apparently dies, and his son is killed.

In typical Shakespearean (and Greek myth) fashion, the daughter is rescued and reared by a shepherd; sixteen years later, she falls in love with a young man who turns out to be none other than—the son of the friend Leontes accused of sleeping with Hermione! What a coincidence!

All the stories are told, everyone gets together to rejoice, and Hermione’s statue comes miraculously back to life so she can share in the festivities. Frankly, after all that, I’d rather deck Leontes than party with him, but that’s just me.

Local-and-NYC actor Ben Griessmeyer absolutely steals the show in the dual roles of Leontes and Autolycus. His Leontes is scary, and he fixes his rather mad gaze out into the audience frequently enough to make one start shifting uneasily in one’s seat.

Griessmeyer projects a sense of coiled energy, using his tremendous physical presence to great advantage as he moves about the stage, up into the audience, and back again, He simply dominates any scene that he’s in.

Co-director Tessa Bry is a humble and accepting Hermione, elegant and resigned to her fate. Ruby Wolf and co-director Will Sturdivant give excellent performances of the young lovers, unaware of their parents’ issues. They both project the kind of personality that is unusual in secondary characters— one is drawn to truly wish them well.

Other cast members include Nathanial Hall Taylor, Jake Ford, Melenie Freedom Flynn, Robin Russell, and Bella Tasha.

Payomet is a fabulous venue: the staging is stark and minimalist, the wind howls around the tent, and it’s easy to get drawn into the story. Go spend an evening in North Truro and find yourself in ancient Greece—via 17th-century England!

The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
At the Payomet Performing Arts Center through August 13
For tickets call 508.487.5400 or go online to www.payomet.org.