Enjoy the show, and please leave a substantive comment about the experience of seeing it performed by Friday, April 7. You can talk about the difference between reading and seeing the play, about the role of music in the performance, about a scene or character that was striking to you and why, or anything else you choose. Feel free to respond to one another’s comments as well.
Lyric and Lyrics 
This adaptation of the play was quite unique, in my opinion. The theory that “Winter’s Tale” was a tale within a tale, specifically that Mamillius crafted the whole story for his mother’s enjoyment, was definitely explored. In the beginning, six characters coupled off in portraits which also appeared at the end of the play. This could be an indication that the characters in the portraits were just that, characters. These portraits hung in Mamillius’ house and it is very possibly that they inspired his elaborate, intricate tale.
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I personally did not enjoy this adaptation of “The Winter’s Tale” too much. It seemed to be set in the 1920’s by the way that they were dressed, however I believe that it was not done on purpose. The acting could have been improved by expressing better what each phrase meant. Being that it is Shakespearean English, it would probably have been difficult for someone who had not previously read the play or known the story to follow the performance. This is where the tone of voice really comes into play when saying each phrase. An example is when the character of Leontes was ranting to the audience about the fact that his wife was cheating on him. The actor did not show as much emotion as he should have, in my opinion. One aspect that I really did enjoy, however, was the set. It was very well crafted and very flexible to change to different scenes with different settings; like how it changed for the last few scenes of the first act. Overall, I believe the performance could have been improved, however, there were good aspects to it as well.
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The Winter’s Tale performance that we saw I think was notably different than what I imagined it might be. They did a good job dramatizing the characters in ways that were not implicit in the text. There was much more shouting in the performance, especially between Hermione and Leontes. Even when I listened to audio readings of the play, the voice actors rarely raised their voices. Speech that seemed mild and punctuated with “.” in the text was turned into exclamatory statements. Perhaps this was simply to keep the audience’s attention, or maybe the text was meant to be read with more emotion. Regardless, it was more effective and made the most sense given the dramatic subject matter of the play. In the text it is also difficult to gauge Hermione’s suffering while she is on trial until she “dies” of grief. There are no cues in the text to indicate her countenance or cries of any kind to make known her suffering. However, given the visuals of the play her anguish is more apparent. This makes “The Winter’s Tale” characters feel much more real.
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I didn’t particularly enjoy the adaptation of the play, mainly cause of the way the characters were portrayed. For instance, Leontes was way too overdramatic, which fit his character, but was uncomfortable and alienating. This was true too for Paulina and Hermione as well. However, their portrayals were much more believable, while Leontes seemed almost ridiculous. The other characters I loved the scenery except for the odd and unexplained map of Fordham in the background. The costumes were a bit off as well, almost like it was set in a different time period than from which the play was actually set. Hermione’s dress was especially exquisite and adorned in probably false gems. All in all the play was interesting, as it was definitely not what I had pictured when reading the play in the first place.
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Overall, I did not really enjoy this adaptation of “The Winter’s Tale”. As others have mentioned, I found this was not the way I had imagined the play when reading it. The costumes did not help depict the time period it was supposed to be taking place in (maybe this was on purpose?). Also, if someone had not previously read the play as we did, they probably found it difficult to follow and understand what was occurring in each scene. The scene where they read the oracle was comedic in this adaptation, seeming to represent a seance versus seeming to be a serious event in the writing of the play. It did help seeing the play acted out instead of just reading it, but I think it could’ve been done better.
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“The Winter’s Tale” that we saw on Wednesday was very different from what I imagined it to be. The actors costumes appeared to look like clothes from the 1920s, giving the adaptation an interesting twist. Although I did not enjoy the play that much, the actors were great in playing their roles and portraying the moods of the characters. Furthermore, the lighting and special effects done by the cast gave the play life and was able to convey the atmosphere of certain scenes that I think would of been more difficult to pick up on if it was just simply read. I also found it interesting how during certain scenes music would stop and Leontes would have the spotlight on him, speaking his thoughts. For example one of the first scenes where Leontes first confesses his jealousy between Hermione and Polixenes was interesting because it gave insight specifically into his mind during the course of events. I personally did not like the play that much but thought it was a great experience!
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As other’s have said, the play was very different from what I imagined it to be. The clothing and set design portrayed a much more modern timeline. Also, if we had not discussed the plot in class, I feel as though we would have been completely lost during the play. The actual production was pretty impressive, and I thought they did a good drop portraying most of the characters, especially Mamilllius and Hermoine. Because the costume and set design did not stick word for word to the original, I would have hoped for a little bit more of a modernized script, so that everyone in the theater got a full understanding of the story. Other than that, I enjoyed the adaptation and found it to be pretty well done.
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Like my classmates, I found the play to be extremely different than what I had expected it to be. The actors were more dramatic than I anticipated. During the scene where they were finally getting the answers from the Oracle, the stage was dark and different colored lights flashed. The actors were yelling, and there were noises blasting through the speakers of the stage. I did not expect the Oracle scene to be this crazy. They had to move quickly through the play, due to time constraints. So, the actors spoke to each other quickly and bantered back and forth. If I had not read the play beforehand I think I would have been confused.
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I thought the play was pretty good. The acting seemed to fit the roles that they were playing. I thought the scenery could of been more intricate. It helped me understand the play in more depth, however. Seeing the emotions the actors showed helped me understand what the roles meant by their lines. My favorite actors was Hermoine and the King. I feel that they played their roles the best.
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