The Winter’s Tale
1981: Jane Howell

This is the BBC Shakespeare Plays version of a play that is all too rarely produced.

Some of the great acting forces of the day were marshaled for this production: Jeremy Kemp, whose career ranged from 1956 to 1998, plays the paranoid Leontes, and his transformation from paranoid persecutor to the chastened mourner of the second half is a study in nuanced acting. Robert Stephens plays the affable and mellifluous Polixenes. (Viewers may recall Stephens as the Ancient Pistol in Branagh’s Henry V; he also lent his distinctive voice in the role of Aragorn to the BBC’s radio production of The Lord of the Rings.)

Anna Calder-Marshall plays the part of the wronged Hermione with enormous grace and dignity. The part is a complex one; it needs to be taken in the context of its time, certainly, in a culture in which the infidelity of a queen was clearly seen as an instance of treason.

Jeremy Dimmick, whose entire career profile on IMDB runs to four items, gives a performance of Mamillius remarkable not only for its self-possession and clarity of diction but also for its emotional range. It’s not a major part, arguably, but it’s close to the emotional center of the play, and he needs to be sympathetic to wholly engage the viewer. Dimmick played the young Duke of York in the BBC Richard III two years later.

Margaret Tyzack delivers the impassioned and complex speeches of Paulina with similar conviction and unparalleled intensity. Some may remember her as Antonia from the series I, Claudius of 1976. Perdita and Florizel are charmingly innocent, though not without a certain amount of nuance. Arthur Hewlett, whose face is probably a good deal more familiar than his name to those who watched BBC television from a certain age, plays the shepherd to dithery perfection.

The production design is a curious blend: the costumes, on the one hand, are chiefly traditionally Elizabethan; on the other, the sets are minimal and abstract, with stark geometrical shapes, and in many scenes almost non-existent; the first part of the play is dominated by a severe black and white color scheme, while the second is bathed in summery or autumnal colors

The cinematic style of the production is somewhat unusual, as well: most of the soliloquies and much of the dialogue is shot in tight closeups. The effect is more cinematic and less theatrical than some of these productions. A potential difficulty for some contexts (classroom viewing, for example) is that its sound engineering has such a wide dynamic range that one is constantly compelled to tweak the volume in order to dull the roar at one moment or rescue what would otherwise be inaudible in another. Some modern televisions can adjust for this automatically, but it might be an issue in some situations.

All in all, this is an understated but excellent production of a perplexing but lyrical play. Highly recommended.

Buy the complete BBC Shakespeare Plays at Amazon. Note that this will require a Region 2 player or a region-free player: it will not play on most normal American DVD players. Nevertheless, the price is so reasonable that even with a region-free player thrown into the deal, you’ll come out ahead.

Buy the complete set of the BBC Shakespeare Plays or individual plays (including this one) in Region 1 format direct from Ambrose Video.