Tonight, my husband and I saw A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare at the California Shakespeare Festival. I was very excited about going. I love the theatre and I love Shakespeare. But this was a play that I did not know much about, if anything at all. I read the synopsis in preparation of the outing.
I was surprised to learn that the first act of the play is essentially a tragedy while the second act is light, has a possible magical element—depending on interpretation—and is deemed a comic romance. Indeed, the second act balances on the edge of absurdity. And it felt to me while watching it, incomplete.
This is also the play containing Shakespeare’s most famous stage direction, “He exits, pursued by a bear.”
First to explain the bear, some of this information coming from the well-spoken Dramaturg at CalShakes, whom we heard speak before the production.
There were limited forms of entertainment in the late 1500s and early 1600s in England compared to today (but of course we live in the Entertainment Age). Besides theatre and music, there were some sports, cock fights, and one of the most popular spectator experiences: bear baiting.
A barbaric event even by today’s standards, a bear was tied to a pole. Dogs would be let lose to taunt the bear. The “sport” ended either with the bear exhausting itself or killing one of the dogs. Men made wagers on the outcome.
So, there were bears to be had in London. I’d like to think that the bear in Shakespeare’s play was “saved” from bear baiting by its role on the stage, that it perhaps received a bit more humane treatment, even if still held captive and leashed, in service of men. But that’s wishful thinking, from my admiration of Shakespeare’s plays. It’s as likely that the bear was ill-treated. There’s no way of knowing. No one’s perfect. Expecting them to be so is to live with perpetual disappointment. Shakespeare disinherited a daughter. But that’s another story!
Now to the play. Shakespeare wrote it towards the end of his life, and the Dramaturg—who declared she has read every biography of Shakespeare in existence—theorizes that Shakespeare suffered from Parkinson’s Disease at the end of his life. Indeed, his signature in later years looks like it came from a shaky hand. It might explain why the ending of A Winter’s Tale felt rushed to a conclusion, not quite coherent.
In the next Challenge, I’ll share the synopsis and some revelations through watching and learning about this play. I’m out of time today, and it’s late. And I owe myself two Challenge pieces tomorrow anyway!
But as a teaser, I will mention that in both acts, especially the first, when prejudice and power blind the character King Laertes to the truth so clear to everyone else around him, and he acts on his own perception, regardless of evidence to the contrary, the parallel between the play and recent and current politics in our country is undeniable. It led to a philosophical discussion between my husband and I about perception, how it is the driving force and the reality of every human and what that means.
So much to muse over later!
But for now…Exit, pursued by bear (or sleep!).
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash