Das Wintermärchen

In the organizer's words:

The Winter's Tale

By William Shakespeare

All is sunshine in Sicily: King Leontes, his pregnant wife Hermione and Polixenes, King of Bohemia, indulge in their mutual love and friendship. But out of the blue, King Leontes accuses his wife Hermione of infidelity with Polilxenes. Despite all his appeals for Hermione's innocence and pleas for her to come to her senses, Leontes has his wife thrown into prison. He believes that the newborn girl 'Perdita' is Polixenes' daughter and has her set adrift at sea. When their son Mamillius suddenly dies, Hermione collapses and freezes under so much misfortune that her death is reported. Plagued by bitter remorse, Leontes realizes his wrongdoing, but too late - in one stroke he has destroyed all his happiness. 20 years later, Perdita lives in Bohemia as the adopted daughter of simple shepherds. She has a secret love affair with the son of King Polixenes. At an exuberant sheep-shearing festival, their union is unexpectedly discovered and the two flee from Polixenes' wrath to Sicily...

Shakespeare's romance "The Winter's Tale" is a fairytale-like play that detaches itself from real topographical and historical locations and whose progress is driven solely by the emotional impulses of its protagonists. It tells of the destructive power of jealousy and tyranny and the healing effect of love and forgiveness. As tragic and gloomy as the play begins, it develops in a cheerful, hopeful and comedic way after the leap in time in the second part.

The production tells Shakespeare's late work as Perdita's journey into a past that she does not know and in which her family history lies hidden. Piece by piece, like a memory slowly emerging from oblivion, the story of her origins unfolds like a dark fairy tale. There, her father's jealousy has left her mother frozen in misfortune and deep remorse for this guilt holds her father captive. In her search for her identity and her future, Perdita sheds light on her "family fairy tale". The production uses music, atmospheric sounds and animal masks to create a fairytale-like narrative space in which the whole range of human emotions can unfold.

Patricia Benecke, who staged Mike Bartlett's "Love Love Love" for the bremer shakespeare company in the 2018/19 season, directed the production.

Cast

Translation: Chris Alexander.
Director: Patricia Benecke.
Stage/costumes: Heike Neugebauer, Rike Schimitschek.
Music: Simon Slater.
With: Simon Elias, Tim D. Lee, Petra-Janina Schultz, Markus Seuß.

Duration: 2:00 incl. intermission

Performance language: German

Price information:

normal: 25 € reduced: 14 € Students of the University, HS and HfK Bremen and HKS Ottersberg: Free admission