Details
★★★★★ Daily Express
★★★★★ whatsonstage.com
★★★★ The Guardian
★★★★ The Times
★★★★ The Independent
★★★★ Daily Mail
★★★★ Sunday Times
Hampstead Theatre is delighted to welcome back Propeller after their sell-out success with The Comedy of Errors and Richard III last summer.
Led by Director Edward Hall, internationally acclaimed all-male company, Propeller is renowned for combining a rigorous approach to the text with an exciting, physical aesthetic. Propeller engages its audience’s imagination and brings fresh understanding to classic plays. It’s Shakespeare rediscovered.
The Winter’s Tale tells the mysterious, extraordinary, tragic story of a man consumed by an inexplicable jealousy that destroys his family, his kingdom and himself. Wracked with guilt, Leontes sets off a chain reaction of events that leads to a miraculous climax and the chance of redemption. The greatest playwright writing at the height of his powers, this is poetry in motion. This is a re-visiting of Propeller’s highly-acclaimed 2005 production.
Running time: 2hrs 45 mins including 20 minute interval.
Dates & Times
Past Performances
| Tue 3 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived | |
| Wed 4 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived | |
| Fri 6 Jul | 7:30pm | Press Night | Archived |
| Sat 7 Jul | 2:00pm | Archived | |
| Wed 11 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived | |
| Thu 12 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived | |
| Fri 13 Jul | 7:30pm | Captioned Caption Performance | Archived |
| Sat 14 Jul | 2:00pm | Audio Described Audio Described Performance | Archived |
| Mon 16 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived | |
| Tue 17 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived | |
| Wed 18 Jul | 2:00pm | Archived | |
| Sat 21 Jul | 7:30pm | Archived |
Reviews
At Hampstead
The Winter’s Tale is the polar opposite in mood [to Henry V]; a play about a Sicilian king, Leontes, who loses his family and his mind after becoming convinced of his wife’s adultery. Hall makes Leontes’s dead son Mamillius the emotional – and mysterious – heart of the matter, using his toys to tell part of the story in a way that poetically casts the play as an elegy to lost childhood.
The middle, slightly tiresome act, set in a fantastical Bohemia, provides a blast of pure Propeller – replete with singing sheep and Autolycus as a shady, decaying glam rocker.
The wintry temperature is beautifully restored in the final scene, however, with a twist that icily refuses the possibility of redemption.
‘The bravura shift in mood from the Deco elegance of the Sicilian court to the Day-Glo madness of Bohemia 16 years later is superbly handled, and includes some terrific dance routines’
‘I simply report that is excellently hits all the play’s notes of royal and domestic tragedy, rustic comedy and sentimental wonderment’
‘…it glories in a wonderfully louche performance from Tony Bell, who plays Autolycus as an ageing rock god…’
‘I simply report that is excellently hits all the play’s notes of royal and domestic tragedy, rustic comedy and sentimental wonderment.’
‘Hall’s beautiful production’
‘Chief reveller is Tony Bell’s rogue Autolycus… whose rendition of Single Ladies will have you hooting.’
‘Edward Hall is growing force in British theatre.’
News & Blogs
Edward Hall talks about Propeller’s latest Double Bill
Edward Hall talks about Henry V and The Winter's Tale
Read More
