We have been living through a time of collective uncertainty. The last few years have contained political upheaval, division, fear and unreconcilable loss. A harsh winter that seems as though it will never end. And though the world has recently gone through a shared trauma, it seems we are more isolated than ever. Fear creates the impulse to isolate, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. When the world around us becomes threatening, the impulse can be to protect ourselves at all costs—even at the expense of others—to hold onto any illusion of control and crash inwards instead of reaching out.
The
Winter’s Tale
In The Winter’s Tale Leontes’ fear stems from uncertainties that exist within all of us: do the people I love really love me? Are they faithful? Can I trust them? It is impossible to have indisputable answers to these questions, and so, it is what we choose to believe about what we cannot know that frames our reality. Leontes conjures death and destruction, breaking away from everyone he trusts because the tale he’s telling himself can only have one certain conclusion. The narrative he can control is a tragedy of his own making. Rejecting certainty leaves space for possibility. In Hope in the Dark Rebecca Solnit writes, “Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act.” It is the presence of hope in the midst of the unknown that interrupts the conventions of tragedy in The Winter’s Tale. Even when all appears lost, it is the actions of Hermione, Paulina and Antigonus that safeguard the last seed of hope, baby Perdita, through a winter without assurance of spring. Even as these characters fear for themselves, their constancy in fighting for the wellbeing of others allows for the generic break that moves us from the constrains of Sicilia to the shores of Bohemia. In Bohemia hope is cultivated by casting off control and convention. It is through the embrace of the unpredictable that limitations are transcended. Here those separated by age and position can come together in community and reimagine the future through play. Here unknowingly Perdita breaks the generational curse of her father’s doubt by growing more steadfast in love in the face of fear instead of hiding deeper inside herself. Collective dismantling of expectations in this tale allows reconciliation to occur. It is only when we can embrace an ending without needing the catharsis of a tragedy or the ease of a comedy that we are able to grapple with uncertainty. In the wake of seemingly irredeemable harm, we are given space to imagine that forgiveness is possible in spite of all that has been lost, that the past does not have to condemn anyone to isolation. That a tyrant can be brought to his knees, not by the sword, but by unfathomable grace. That collective faith can produce real miracles, and hope can change the trajectory of a future that once seemed inevitable. —Rebecca Flemister, Production Dramaturg
SHAKESPEARE REPERTORY PROJECT | 2022–23 SEASON