Press Release
For Immediate Use
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh presents
The Winter’s Tale
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Max Webster
Dates: 10 February – 4 March 2017
Press night: 14 February, 7:30pm
- Starring John Michie and Frances Grey as King Leontes and his wife Hermione. They are joined by Maureen Beattie, Jimmy Chisholm, Andy Clark, Annie Grace, Janet Kumah, Scott Mackie, Brian James O’Sullivan, John Stahl, and Fiona Wood.
- A play with music directed by Max Webster, best known for Orlandoat the Royal Exchange, starring Suranne Jones, and The Lorax, at the Old Vic, written by David Greig.
- Composition by Aly Macrae, following the sell-out tour of Dundee Rep Ensemble’s The Cheviot, The Stag, and the Black Black Oil, and the American run of National Theatre of Scotland’s The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, written by David Greig.
- Set designed by Fly Davis, whose designs include Unreachable at the Royal Court, A Streetcar Named Desire at the Royal Exchange, and the Olivier-nominated I Want My Hat Back for National Theatre of Scotland.
- Novelist and poet James Robertson translating select scenes and characters into Scots.
The Winter’s Tale, one of the Bard’s last and most celebrated stories, will see Max Webster reunited with The Lyceum’s Artistic Director David Greig, following their work together on the smash-hit production of The Lorax, which premiered at The Old Vic in 2015.
Astory of loss and redemption, The Winter’s Tale follows King Leontes who, suspecting his wife Hermione has been unfaithful, tears his family and his kingdom apart, banishing the queen and her newborn child. Passionate tragedy interweaves with pastoral comedy, leading to one of Shakespeare’s most magical and moving denouements, concluding a play that spans sixteen years, two kingdoms and, yes, one bear.
Acclaimed artist Max Webster (Orlando, Royal Exchange; Much Ado About Nothing, The Globe, UK and global tours; Twelfth Night, Regents Park Open Air Theatre;The Lorax, Old Vic; King Lear, Northampton Royal & Derngate, ATG UK tour) will bring a distinctive Scottish flair to this Shakespearean classic, with a troupe of actor-musicians, to create a vibrant and lyrical production of this bitter-sweet story which examines the themes of love, betrayal, magic, and misfortune.
Composing the music that weaves these themes together is Aly Macrae, whose recent performance work includes Dundee Rep Ensemble’s tour of The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black Black Oil; The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Calum’s Road, Tall Tales for Small People, Peter Pan, and Gobbo, all National Theatre of Scotland; and The Undersea World of Bubble McBea, Scottish Opera. His work as musical director, sound designer, and composer includes: Get Santa!, The Bloody Great Border Ballad Project, NorthernStage; Gastronauts, Royal Court; Anna Karenina, Sleeping Beauty, Dundee Rep; The Beggar’s Opera, Vanishing Point/The Lyceum/Belgrade Theatre/Tramway; and Interiors, Vanishing Point/Traverse/Festival Teatro Napoli.
The production stars John Michie (Grain in the Blood, Traverse Theatre; Measure for Measure, Oxford Stage Company; Precious, The Life of Bob Scallion, West Yorkshire Playhouse; Prin,Lyric/West End; The Cherry Orchard, Tour; Taggart, STV; Coronation Street, Granada Television/ITV)
as Leontes and Frances Grey (Monks, Rebecca, The Lyceum; Neighbourhood Watch, Dear Uncle, Stephen Joseph Theatre/Tour; Reveal: Somersaults, Caledonia, National Theatre of Scotland; Twilight of the Gods, Pyrenees,Paines Plough; Relocated, Royal Court; Messiah series 1-3, BBC) as his wife Hermione. They will be joined by Fiona Wood (The James Play, The Sopranos, Truant, National Theatre of Scotland; Cannibal Women of Mars, Limelight/Tron Theatre; Sleeping Beauty, NLP; Flo White, Tron Theatre; Sketchland, BBC; Rab.C.Nesbitt, The Comedy Unit) as daughter Perditia, Maureen Beattie (Dark Road, The Lyceum; Right Now, Ustinov/Bush/Traverse – nominated for Best Female Performance CATS award; John Gabriel Barclay, Oran Mor; Romeo and Juliet, Rose Theatre Kingston; The Jennifer Tremblay Trilogy, tour; Yer Granny, tour; No Quarter, Royal Court Theatre; Noises Off, Old Vic and tour; Outlander, Starz) as Paulina, and Jimmy Chisholm (Thon Man Moliere, Trumpets and Rasberries, The Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew, The Lyceum; The Gospel Enquiry, Edinburgh Assembly Rooms; The Pied Piper of Hamilton, Oran Mor, Ayr Gaiety, Assembly Festival; An Appointment with the Wicker Man, National Theatre of Scotland; Measure for Measure, Royal Shakespeare Company; Mountain Goats, BBC Scotland) as Autolycus.
The cast is completed by Annie Grace (Anything That Gives Off Light, National Theatre of Scotland/The TEAM/Edinburgh International Festival; The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Blabbermouth, Five Minute Theatre, The Tin Forest, National Theatre of Scotland; A Pleasant Satire of the Three Estates, AandBC Theatre; Dark Woods Deep Snow, Northern Stage) as Mopsa/Emilia, John Stahl (Death of a Salesman, The Lyceum; A Soldier in Every Son, All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Dog in the Manger, Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company; Alice Trilogy, Royal Court Theatre; All My Sons, Theatre Royal Plymouth; Frankenstein, National Theatre; Game of Thrones, Fire and Blood Productions)as Antigonus and the Old Shepherd, Andy Clark(Dance of Death, The Libertine, Citizens Theatre; Lovesick Blues: The Hank Williams Story, Oran Mor; Lanark, Citizens Theatre, Edinburgh International Festival; Little Sure Shot, The Egg, Bath; Aladdin, Macrobert Arts Centre; Colquhoun & Macbryde, Three Sisters, Tron; Of Mice and Men, West Yorkshire Playhouse) as Polixenes, Janet Kumah (Simpatico, Tabard Theatre; Rites, National Theatre of Scotland; Sugar, Rum, Molasses, CLF Art Cafe, LakeshaArie-Angelo; Snakes & Ladders, UK Tour; Hero, Leicester Square Theatre; The Bodyguard The Musical, Adelphi Theatre; Dancing in the Streets, Aldwych Theatre; Fame, UK Tour; The Official Tribute to the Blues Brothers, European Tour; Extracts from Shakespeare’s Plays, UK Tour; Macbeth, Twelfth Night, West Country Tour) as Camilla, Scott Mackie (Pumped, BBC; The Wedding, Go, Make You Ready, On The Twentieth Century, The Secret Rapture, all Guildhall School of Music & Drama) as Florizel, and Brian James O’Sullivan (Oh What a Lovely War!, Lyceum Youth Theatre; The James Plays, National Theatre of Scotland; To Hell and Back,The Deficit Show, A Play, a Pie and a Pint; Sleeping Beauty, NLP Theatre Co) as the shepherd’s son, Clown.
The production will be given an additional Scottish twist, with certain scenes and characters translated in to Scots by renowned author and poet, James Robertson, whose novels include The Testament of Gideon Mack, And the Land Lay Still, Joseph Knight, The Fanatic, Sound Shadow, and Stepping into the Avalanche.
Max Webster, director onThe Winter’s Talesaid:
“The Winter's Tale has long been my favourite Shakespeare play. It speaks of family, jealousy and loss, but also of the power of love and hope to transform our lives. David Greig and I really enjoyed collaborating together on The Lorax at the Old Vic last Christmas so I'm really proud to be part of what looks like an incredibly exciting and adventurous first season of work.”
Ends
For further media information, please contact Harriet Mould on / 0131 2484 822 / 0745 481 6116
Full Listings information
The Winter’s Tale
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Max Webster
Set, props and Costume designed by Fly Davis
Sound designed by Gregory Clarke
Composed by Aly Macrae
LX designed by Lee Curran
Address: Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Grindlay Street, EH3 9AX
Box Office: 0131 248 4848
Website: lyceum.org.uk
Performance Dates: 10 February – 4 March 2017
Opening performance: Saturday 11 February
Times: evenings,7.30pm, matinees,2pm
Prices:£30.50 - £10.00
Post-Show Discussion: Tuesday 21 February (FREE, no ticket required)
Audio Described:Thursday 23 February, 7:30pm (touch tour – 6:15pm); Saturday 25 February, 2pm (touch tour – 12:45pm).
BSL Interpreted:Wednesday 22 February, 7:30pm
Captioned: Saturday 25 February, 2pm
Join the conversation: #TheWintersTale
Notes to Editor
Having recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company is a crucible of Scottish talent, developing Scotland’s considerable indigenous artists and presenting the best of international drama from its home in a magnificent, intimate Victorian building in Edinburgh’s West End.
Internationally celebrated playwright David Greig became the 8th Artistic Director of The Lyceum in 2016, following Mark Thomson’s superb 13 year reign. As part of his premiere 2016/17 season, the company is producing ten full productions, making it one of the biggest producing companies in the United Kingdom.
In recent years, The Lyceum has staged co-productions with Theatre Royal, Bath; The Bush Theatre, London; Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company; National Theatre of Scotland; Citizens Theatre; Dundee Rep; Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; Chichester Festival Theatre and the Lyric Hammersmith.
In addition, The Lyceum also runs an award-winning, ambitious and acclaimed Creative Learning programme which engages with over 16,000 young people across Scotland annually.
For more information, please visit lyceum.org.uk