The Winter's Tale : A Play Commentary

Backstage at the Goodman: Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale from turgical on Vimeo.

This is a video-commentary of the Shakespearean play, A Winter's Tale that was staged in the 1990s. The play is directed by Frank Galati, a passionate director and also an actor. His direction of Grapes of Wrath in Chicago gained him a Tony Award for Best Play, later transferring it to Broadway, where he gained another Tony for Best Direction of A Play.

In this play, the seasoned Frank Galati looks at the play from a very personal manner. Rather than thinking of the Shakespearean play as a masterpiece and keeping a very professional demeanour in directing it, Frank approaches it very personally. He relates the play to the consistency of mankind and how certain things in life does not change, be it in works of literature or in real life. For example, in the video, Frank explains that Shakespeare's plays are usually either comedic or tragic, but in this play, Shakespeare combines both elements, resulting in a play everyone could relate to. The combination of happiness and tragedy is life. There will be moments of joy yet tragedy would not be very far away. Life is unpredictable and full of ups and downs. That is what Frank Galati as a director tried to capture in his version of the play.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Galati
http://vimeo.com/10989968


Vimal.