IT IS a tale best meant for winter but it won me over with its story of the redemptive power of love.
 
I had reservations when I got my tickets for The Winter's Tale. It is not considered to be  one of the Bard's best plays although it is certainly one of his more popular ones. In fact it has been labelled  one of his more problematic plays, straddling the schizophrenic lines of tragedy and comedy as it does.
 
Also, there was that Ethan Hawke - a dashing young man with the brooding good looks and piercing gaze.

I was a little skeptical that his star quality would overshadow the role of Autolycus - the loveable rogue in the play. I mean, 15 years on, I still see him as the slacker/guitarist Troy in his breakthrough role in Reality Bites - although some may argue that it was his role as Todd in Dead Poets' Society that made him.
 
But those fears were groundless thanks to the powerful performances of Simon Russell Beale, the divine Rebecca Hall and elegant Sinead Cusack.
 
At times moving, at times hilarious, the play was always engaging - from Leontes' (Beale) sudden descent into insane jealous rage to Hermione's (Hall) reserved strength to Paulina's (Cusack) understated grief.

Hall and Beale were especially impressive. One moment, Hermione was a coquettish flirt, the next, a wounded mother; Beale's portrayal of Leontes was an all too human king torn by his love and his jealousy was magnificent.
 
In a week when Singapore got her first female government Minister, it was perhaps fitting that the play was about the strength and beauty of women.

 I couldn’t help but be struck by how The Winter's Tale appeared to be one of Shakespeare's stronger feminist play - strong women have always featured, well, strongly, in his works, Lady Macbeth, Viola, Cordelia and Helena to name a few.
 
The strength and dignity of the women in The Winter's Tale stand in stark contrast with the buffoonery of the men - Leontes' tragic stubborn foolishness, the shepherds' comic stupidity and Autolycus' folly.
 
And then there was Ethan Hawke.
 
A palpable sigh - mostly from women - swept through the aisles when he came onstage, strumming his guitar, singing and prancing around the stage.

I dreaded the moment that the audience would see him as Ethan Hawke the actor playing Autolycus, rather than Autolycus the rogue played by Ethan Hawke, a small but crucial distinction.

Still, such was the quality of acting and production in the play that it never happened. Every actor and actress, from the leads to the supporting cast to the shepherds and courtiers, endeared themselves to the audience tremendously.
 
The price of the ticket was a tad on the high side, admittedly, but given the talent and technique shown from the production crew and the actors, it was a magical evening well worth every cent - from a cost-benefit analysis.