By MARILYN JOZWIK
After a one-year absence due to the pandemic, Summit Players Theatre is back to bringing accessible versions of Shakespeare to outdoor audiences around the state.
The youthful Players opened their season Friday with a preview performance of “The Winter’s Tale,” directed by Maureen Kilmurry, on the campus of Marquette University. And it appears this talented ensemble hasn’t missed a beat.
With a cool breeze blowing and dark clouds skirting the area, the Players were energized from the start, presenting the often-overlooked Shakespeare play with lots of dramatic and comedic flair.
We first see Polyxenes (Jackson Hoemann), the King of Bohemia, visiting his childhood friend, Leontes (Michael Nicholas), King of Sicily. It is a pleasant visit of royal pals until Leontes suspects his friend of having an affair with his pregnant wife and Queen of Sicily, Hermione (Maura Atwood). That situation never ends well.
Even though the oracle says Hermione is blameless, Leontes is so certain of his suspicions that his wife’s unborn child is not his that he has Hermione imprisoned and the daughter she has in prison banished. The cherry on top of this disaster is the death of Leontes’ son.
Leontes’ child is left in the wild and found and raised by a shepherd, also played by Nicholas. Sixteen years later the child, Perdita (Caroline Norton), finds love amidst all sort of confusion and merriment.
Jackson Hoemann (left) and Michael Nicholas perform in Summit Players Theatre “The Winter’s Tale.”
After the dramatic opening, the show turns to Shakespeare, and the Players, at their comedic best. Disguises and mistaken identities abound and clownish characters appear from behind the bedspread-sized screen to take the drama to farce, to romance and to a happy ending.
There are some 30 characters that the six Players handle expertly. Production manager Emily Elliott was a tornado of activity “backstage,” helping performers navigate their many simple, but effective costumes. She also handles the clever sheep puppets.
Nicholas tackles two big pieces of the show with impressive performances, trading the royal bearing of King Leontes to play the hayseed shepherd who raises the king’s daughter. Nicholas toggles seamlessly between the two roles. He is the angry, vindictive – and later remorseful – king. In between, he puts on a straw hat and an Andy Griffith accent as the dutiful Bohemian shepherd. Unlike the king, the shepherd is kind, gentle and humane, even Christlike as he looks for his lost sheep. Nicholas does such a wonderful job of playing both sides of this coin.
Norton pairs well with Nicholas as his son and later as a naïve young shepherd, giving those roles lots of animation. Just as she did in “Romeo and Juliet,” the last Players presentation in 2019, Norton is an audience favorite with her big gestures and spirited, comical performances.
Maura Atwood lends a lovely soprano voice while performing several roles Summit Players Theatre “The Winter’s Tale.”
Norton also transforms from the young shepherd to the princess Perdita, who at age 16 has fallen for Polyxenes’ son, Florizel, nicely played by Cole Conrad.
In the end, it is the common folk that endear us with their good hearts and humor, rather than the callous royalty.
The ensemble cast, also including Kaylene Howard, is fully engaged with the audience. With non-stop action, occasional tunes and audience prompts such as “Wind,” “Cheer,” “Roar,” “Baaah,” “Grrr” and “Applause,” the show never gets bogged down. Especially notable is the lovely soprano voice of Atwood.
Summit Players Theatre does such a good job of helping audiences understand and appreciate The Bard – just as much as the Players do! -- with an easy-to-understand guide at their website and a printed plot summary at their performances
As with all of Shakespeare, the show is more enjoyable with a bit of reading beforehand.
For a list of Summit Players Theatre performance dates and locations, go to https://www.summitplayerstheatre.com/shows