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The Winter’s Tale
The 2005-2006 school year witnessed the second Shakespearean comedy to grace Cal’s stage during Mr. Holt’s tenure as director. “The Winter’s Tales” is one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote, and easily one of the strangest. It features a jealous king whose suspicion of his wife costs him all he hold dear, until he is redeemed by his loyal firends and the basic goodness of the younger generation. The action of the play spans sixteen years and two countries, which poses many difficulties.
Still, Cal’s GATE class responded gamely and recreated a Bohemia with a sea coast and the shores of Sicily. Ker Moua did an amazing job as the jealous king, Leontes. His wronged queen was ably portrayed on alternate nights by Payia Xiong and Yuliya Chekmareva. Relief from the oppressive seriousness of Acts I-III was provided ably by Karinna Fayer as the Clown and Ben Whitlach as the thieving Autolycus. The heroic Paulina does ultimately rescue Leontes from despair, as do his lost daughter and new son in law. Kudos to S. Schloss, B. Anguiano, D. Auchterlonnie, J. Hayes, and J. Vang for the supporting acting jobs.
The fun with “The Winter’s Tale” continued when the young thespians traveled to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in late May to see a professional production. Many of the young actors preferred their own performances, which shows that bias is not only the territory of adults. Even so, they enjoyed Ashland and having a chance to see a slightly different interpretation of the play.
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