THE WINTER'S TALE. THE ROYAL BALLET.

12 april—10 june 2016 

Christopher Wheeldon’s three-act ballet adaptation of Shakespeare’s tale of love, loss and reconciliation with music by Joby Talbot is a triumph for The Royal Ballet.

King Leontes, possessed by a mad jealousy, believes his pregnant wife Hermione to be having an affair with his childhood friend King Polixenes.

He orders that Hermione’s baby, Perdita, be abandoned. Hermione and their young son die of distress and Leontes is overcome with remorse. Perdita is found and raised by a shepherd, and falls in love with Florizel, son of Polixenes. They flee Polixenes, who is consumed with fury at his son’s love for a commoner, and seek shelter with Leontes. Perdita is recognized. Hermione returns and the family is reunited.

Christopher Wheeldon, Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet, created his adaptation of Shakespeare’s late great romance The Winter’s Tale for The Royal Ballet in 2014. His earlier creation Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was the Company’s first full-length ballet since 1995 and is now one of its great popular successes. 

The Winter’s Tale has built on that success, and on its premiere was acclaimed by critics and audiences as an intelligent, distinctive and emotionally powerful story, told through exquisite dance.

The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a statue of Hermione appears to come miraculously to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. With powerful designs by Bob Crowley and atmospheric music by Joby Talbot, The Winter’s Tale is a masterful modern narrative ballet.

http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/the-winters-tale-by-christopher-wheeldon