Talbot: The Winter’s Tale ****
Royal Ballet, 13th February 2018
The Winter’s Tale is sometimes classed as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” with its odd juxtaposition of psychological drama and comedy followed by an abruptly contrived happy ending. Ryan Wigglesworth’s operatic version, though stripping away too much of the verse, was a fine achievement last season at ENO but Christopher Wheeldon’s 2014 ballet, earning its second revival here in London, solves more of the play’s problems than other treatments. Music and dance retain the work’s poetry but in a tightly condensed form.
Ryoichi Hirano (Leontes) and Lauren Cuthbertson (Hermione)
© Tristram Kenton
Read the full review on Bachtrack.