By: Maya Faneen
Throughout the past 3 months, the RJ Theatre company has showcased many productions from its annual Circle Festival at The Flea Theatre. The Winter’s Tale, a take on the Shakespeare classic directed by Isabel Criado and Mira Bahgat, was one to look out for. The pair co-directed the play as part of the Festival’s Shakespeare Unravelled Short Plays and won Best Director of a Short Play. The real question is, how much can you achieve with a 30-minute cut of a Shakespeare play? The answer is, it seems, a lot.
The Winter’s Tale tells the story of Leontes, a King whose jealousy leads to the death of his wife Hermione, the departure of his best friend Polixenes, and the exile of his only daughter Perdita. Twenty years later, Perdita grows up and falls in love with Polixenes’ son Florizell, but when Polixenes himself opposes their love, the lovers escape towards Leontes, asking for his help. Here, family and friends are reunited through love, friendship, and magic.
As one of Shakespeare’s late romances, this play changes rapidly from a violent tragedy into a romantic comedy. Because of this, it is an extremely hard play to adapt or cut. Criado and Bahgat have done a wonderful job of giving it a new life by focusing on a very specific and significant theme: generational healing. In this adaptation, the queer undertones Shakespeare presented are at the forefront of his writing, as we see Leontes having deep romantic feelings for his best friend. It is his denial of these feelings that leads to the loss and violence we see.
Twenty years later, Polixenes has a son, Florizell, with whom Perdita falls in love. By casting a woman to play Florizell, Criado and Bahgat portray the oppression of the young couple as a fight against a world that values heteronormativity. By the end of the play, their success in loving each other shows a true healing from their predecessors as they accept their own queerness. It was beautiful to watch.
In talking with Criado and Bahgat about the birth of this adaptation, there were a lot of trials and tribulations. “We decided early on that each of us should direct half of the play, especially since we were both taking up significant acting roles in the production. Balancing all these roles as directors, producers, and actors simultaneously requires a lot of organization and strategic planning.” Said Bahgat, “We definitely couldn’t have done it without Naz Tokgoz, our co-producer and stage manager. She took care of many of the logistical aspects in this process that allowed us to focus on the creative portion as directors and actors.”
Criado continued, “Directing-wise, I wanted to take on the first half of the play as I wanted to focus on Leontes and Polixenes’ relationship. For me, Leontes’ jealousy stems from much more than his love for his wife. I don’t think he loves his wife. God knows no one in love should do what he does to her. So, I wanted to play with this dichotomy of love and jealousy, sweetness and violence, truth and lies. There’s inherently so much lying that one does to oneself and others when denying one’s queerness. It was important for me to focus on that. For that to be the tragedy that we see as an audience.”
Bahgat added, “It was really important for me to create a sense of history repeating itself in the second act. We are never separated from the generational traumas that live within us, and it’s interesting to explore how it would affect a younger generation. It was also very exciting to bring my work as a musician into this process by composing a song for Hermione! It became the tie to her reunion with her daughter and summarized the common threads within the play.”
But The Winter’s Tale wouldn’t work without the astounding performances by its cast. The dynamic between Mira Bahgat and Arya Samini as Hermione and Leontes was a stand-out moment in the first act. While Bahgat’s character grapples with the desperation of clearing her name and fighting for honor, her emotional performance makes you hold your breath as she delivers her final monologue. And Annabel McConnachie’s Paulina brings it home by being a grounding figure, coming head to head against Zoe Zifer’s Camillo.
Hope blossoms through the second act with the appearance of the young lovers, played by Isabel Criado and Nora Gatz. The couple brings an earnest, beautifully sweet tone to watch, with Gatz delivering all the bravado that comes with new love while Criado leads the fervor and sorrow of opposition. Polixenes’ actor, Kade De Angiolett, shines as the second-act villain, where he finds himself opposed to Wallis Meghan Rolle’s Shepherd. While the dancing and celebration are fun, it is Criado and Bahgat’s characters’ reunion as mother and daughter that truly makes this play worth seeing.
Credits:
Producer, Co-Director, Musical Director/Composer & Lighting Designer: Mira Bahgat
Producer, Co-Director, Choreographer & Costume Designer: Isabel Criado
Producer & Stage Manager: Naz Tokgoz
Fight Director: Jerzy Gwiazdowski
Photography: Vega Armstrong
Cast: Mira Bahgat, Arya Alexander Samini, Kade De Angioletti, Annabel McConnachie, Zoé Zifer, Isabel Criado, Nora Gatz, Wallis Meghan Rolle, Jessica Hakim (Understudy)
Published by Elle G
