A great Shakespeare show

To help find the site, which is roughly in line with the restrooms near the paddling-pool, costumed and glowing guides direct patrons through the trees, adding to the sense of adventure.

The Winter’s Tale is a show of two halves, cleverly edited so that the light-hearted rustic revels of the Bohemian shepherds are in marked contrast to the earlier machinations at King Leontes’ Sicilian court, subject to the tragedy of his jealous whims and unreasoning rage. Leontes, in a commanding performance by Matt Waldin, channels his passions through a chorus of three attendant daemons, who share his speeches and provide a physical manifestation of the dark despotic depression that grips him in the first half. It’s a striking and wellco-ordinated innovation. Hermione, his maligned queen, is given grace, presence and dignity by Kirsten Reilly, with strong supporting performances from Ethan Bermeister, as Polixenes, Philip Mills, as Antigonus, and Bruce Sinclair, as Camillo.

Oozing roguish charm, Tobias Lockhart played snake-oil peddling commentator Autolycus with aplomb, while Therese Mccrea was impressive as the fearlessly forthright, speaking truth to power, Paulina. Paul Lyons and Jack Edens, as the unsophisticated shepherd and his son, provided the right level of yokelish levity.

In responding to director Sara Brodie’s expansive vision, cast and crew have more than met the challenges of this unusual play and its atmospheric outdoor setting.