"The Winter’s Tale" Revived: Kate Drummond’s Adaptation Gives Modern Energy to a Lesser Known Shakespeare Play

The script of University of Washington’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale was adapted by the director of the show, Kate Drummond. In an interview with Drummond, she stated the goal going into this process was “not to ‘fix’ it,  but to reveal how vital a story it is for our world today.” The adaptation’s effects range from changing the role of certain characters to creating a smoother transition from modern English to Shakespearean iambic pentameter. Now reimagined, the play explores themes of betrayal, tragedy, and redemption in scenes constructed by fluid genres and evolving characters. 

With the adaptation being made up of roughly 25-30 percent added text, mostly written by Drummond, the archaic Shakespeare play is given a fresh perspective. One of the main characters, Autolycus, is altered from a lightly featured character to a comical “unreliable narrator.” Autolycus scatters modern language throughout the new version of the play, to which Drummond said “the inclusion of some disruptive modern text (like “frat brother,” or “too soon?” re: making a teeth joke after Antigonus is eaten) is contributing to this sense of keeping us on our toes.” These abrupt language shifts make Autolycus feel more personal, and break down the fourth wall to further let us into the story. 

The play is brought to life by both graduate and undergraduate student actors in the UW drama department. Along with weekend and evening rehearsals, students were taking classes ranging from verse to clowning during the day. Drummond, who has a background in intimacy coordination and direction, said these circumstances led to “an atmosphere of rigor, risk taking, and  growth that I think contributed incredibly positively to what we were able to achieve on this project.” This work was evident in the performance, with the actors being able to build the story independent of the dialogue.

In directing the large group scenes which make up the majority of the play, Drummond said she sought to “[make] sure everyone really understood the event of each scene. What should our focus be on? What is happening, and what are we meant to take from it?” This process led to one of the show's largest successes: when actors were able to go past the explicit instructions of the script and build relationships with telling expressions and familiar signalings of closeness. With impassioned monologues throughout the play, the actors' emotions were able to fill in the gaps of what is often missed in Shakespearean plays due to the language. 

The adaptation also leaned into themes that were already present in the original script, including fantasy and magic. Drummond said that her hope for the effect of this would “offer audiences (and artists) a renewed hope in our  human capacity to change. A reinvigoration of fairy tale logic: things are going to work out, if we take actions to make that true.” This was apparent in the plot of the story but also in the sympathetic character Autolycus, whom Drummond worked to make more accessible and authentic through his shift from pessimistic to hopeful narration. 

The costumes and set reflected the fantasy theme, and it was further enhanced by the set’s ability to change with the fluctuating tone of each scene. One set piece that was impossible to miss was the large piece of fabric that formed a ceiling and back wall for an otherwise open set. Throughout the first act this canopy, as the production team called it, changed position and function. According to Drummond, the canopy was used to help them “track through how the heart of the kingdom was changing and cracking.”  In one scene, the canopy was lowered in the back two corners to make the room appear smaller and reflect the feeling of isolation the character Leontes is feeling in that scene. 

Drummond was clear in who the intended audience of the show was: “anyone who needs a reminder in our human capacity for goodness and growth — which, I think, is all of us right now.” Watching the show and seeing the characters betray one another and then redeem themselves brought me hope, but so did Drummond’s commitment to bringing this play back to life.

Lead photo by Sunny Martini.

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