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SHERWOOD, Wisconsin (WFRV) Me: I’m here to see the William Shakespeare play It’s my first time at High Cliff.
Man looking after parking fees and car window sticker, with a smile: Shakespeare would be proud.
Indeed.
The piece: The Winters Tale, circa 1610.
On Sunday June 13, 2021, The Winters Tale was performed at High Cliff State Park by the Summit Players Theater.
There is Shakespeare in Park in many places around the world. The Summit Players Theater is upping the ante at Shakespeare in the Parks 24 Wisconsin State Parks on a summer tour through August 22. It is an ambitious project.
This is the company’s sixth summer tour. It should be noted that this is the first tour since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; there are still some spacing and other considerations with the current tour.
The Concept: Talented young actors performed condensed versions of a Shakespeare play for free for park patrons or visitors like me (donations accepted).
Condensed may not be the correct word because Shakespeare packs a punch in the first place with the way he has distilled words, meanings, emotions, and innuendos while letting the frail humanity dry up.
The Winters Tale is about phew, a car full of drama, romance, tragedy and a good oracle just at the right time. I cheat and print the synopsis of the panel’s troops here for the public to see:
King Leonte of Sicily unjustly accused Queen Hermione of adultery and sentences her to prison where she gives birth to a baby girl named Perdita.
Hermione’s death is announced and Perdita is sent to Bohemia where she is raised by shepherds.
Sixteen years later, Perdita and a prince named Florizel flee to Sicily.
Perdita reunites with her father, King Leontes, and to celebrate, they visit a statue of Queen Hermione.
The Queen statue comes to life, the family is reunited and they all live happily ever after!
Some favorite quotes:
There is magic in your majesty.
Get out, chased by a bear.
Gloves as soft as Damascus roses; Face and nose masks with the player in this case flashing a COVID-19 medical mask for a visual gag.
The Summit Players Theater radiates the compelling desire to share Shakespeare that simmers in so many places. The players are enthusiastic, flexible and energetic.
The performers embody several characters. It gets tricky when the actor portraying a major character in one scene makes a quick turnaround and is a lesser person in the next. A change of dress, a change of voice and of manor does not alter an identity very much.
This situation is part of the economics of production. The set includes rolled oilcloth maps of Sicily and Bohemia and a black cloth that serves as the sea on which a ship (in miniature) sails with the sound of the waves produced by the shaking of two partially filled plastic containers containing water. The effect is deliberately makeshift comic, as if the production is laughing at its shortcomings.
This company is formed to meet the challenge of voices that carry on the outside. Everyone PROJECTS without shouting. On Sunday, it helped that the performance space was set up for nearly 20 trees. The wood helps with the acoustics, and it was big maple, oak and hickory.
Scene in Bohemia in “The Winter’s Tale”. (Warren Gerds)
One of the interesting pieces of this production is the presentation of the shepherds of Bohemia. What is the dialect of the rural, harsh, folkloric Bohemian shepherds with which the American ear can identify? How about a western cowboy or maybe a Texan? The scenes with this are meant to be comedic and entertaining, and the accent helps.
Players play against each other in a one-for-all, all-for-one presentation with lots of sparkles.
Summit Players Theaters The Winters Tale’s next performance in northeastern Wisconsin is Saturday, June 19 at 7 p.m., with an educational workshop at 5:30 p.m. at Copper Culture State Park near Oconto. If you see the play on your first visit to the park, Shakespeare would be proud.
***
Creation: playwright William Shakespeare; adaptation and director Maureen Kilmurry; music coordinator Michael Nicholas; costume designer Amelia Strahan; director of education Caroline Norton; tour director Sarah Zapiain; Managing Director AJ Magoon
Duration: 1 hour
Remaining performance:
+ June 18: Workshop Parc des Trois Ponts: 5.30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ June 19: Copper Culture State Park Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ June 20: Hartman Creek State Park Workshop: 1 p.m. | show: 2:30 p.m.
+ June 25: Yellowstone Lake State Park workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ June 26: Workshop Wyalusing State Park: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ June 27: Blue Mound State Park Workshop: 1 p.m. | show: 2:30 p.m.
+ July 9: Workshop Copper Falls State Park: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ July 10: Pattison State Park Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ July 16: Havenwoods State Forest Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ July 17: Kohler-Andrae State Park Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ July 18: Peninsula State Park workshop: 1 p.m. | show: 2:30 p.m.
+ July 23: Workshop Lake Kegonsa State Park: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ July 24: Mirror Lake State Forest Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ July 25: Roche-a-Cri State Park workshop: 1 p.m. | show: 2:30 p.m.
+ August 6: Governor’s Knowles State Forest Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 7: Interstate State Park workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 9: Havenwoods State Forest Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 13: Kettle Moraine State Forest Pike Lake Unit Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 14: Wildcat Mountain State Park Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 15: Atelier Perrot State Park: 1 p.m. | show: 2:30 p.m.
+ August 20: Rib Mountain State Park Workshop: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 21: Workshop on the national forest of the Flambeau river: 5:30 p.m. | show: 7 p.m.
+ August 22: Workshop Lake Wissota State Park: 1 p.m. | show: 2:30 p.m.
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