"There's a huge amount of the struggle between what is right for oneself and what is morally right that goes on in this play," comments Stephanie Karol '12, director of Brandeis' interpretation of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. "It's really interesting to see the ways in which each of the characters take it. The general theme is very compelling."Hold Thy Peace, Brandeis' resident Shakespeare society, puts together a production every semester, and this fall's effort is The Winter's Tale, which was presented at the Carl J. Shapiro Theater this past weekend. Karol's note about the moral struggles involved in the play hold true, and indeed, those moralistic elements become one of the most interesting aspects in a production filled with riveting performances.

The story of The Winter's Tale revolves around King Leontes (Nathanel Peleg '13), ruler of Sicilia, and his wife, Queen Hermione (Gabrielle Geller '12), whom the king suspects of cheating on him with his best friend, Polixenes (Jonathan Plesser '12), the king of Bohemia. Leontes' unrelenting suspicions and frenzied jealousy prompt him to throw Hermione in jail, despite the insistence by his sister Camilla (Caitlin Partridge '13) and lady-in-waiting Paulina (Nicole Carlson '14) that she did not cheat on him. The entanglements that follow comprise the intense first act of the show, culminating in the apparent death of Hermione and the abandonment of the couple's newborn daughter, left on a beach by Antigonus (Phoebe Roberts '09) at Leontes' instruction. The 16 year gap between the two acts allows for the introduction of new characters in Act 2, including Perdita (Emma Lieberman '14), Leontes' grown-up daughter, and Florizel, the son of Polixenes (Christopher Knight '14).

The events of the play are in an overtly simple structure made complex by Shakespeare's intricacies of language and detail. But Shakespeare's intricacies are no new story, and by and large, The Winter's Tale really is not one of Shakespeare's best works. Its premise is drawn-out, particularly in the second half, but this production manages to breathe new life into the play. This is thanks in no small part to the acting.

Peleg delivers a riveting performance as Leontes, demonstrating a clear understanding of the nuances of Shakespeare's language. He brings a great amount of frenetic energy to his moments of portraying embittered paranoia toward his queen and then brings his performance down with an equal amount of restrained contempt during his ruminating monologues.

Speaking on the issue of preparing for the role and utilizing Shakespeare's language, Peleg illuminates his constant process of discovery, "It's always amazing to find that no matter how much you've done this, there's always something that you miss. Even yesterday I had a realization about something that I was saying, and I figured out what it meant, and it's just like wait-oh, cool-I can work with that!" he said.

Peleg's previous study of Shakespeare is evident, and the rest of the cast seems similarly at ease with the material. Geller gives a melancholy performance as Hermione, and during her various proclamations of innocence to her charges, she successfully embodies a desperate sense of virtue. Plesser exudes a kingly authority and genuine charisma as Polixenes. As Camilla, Partridge employs a great sense of confusion and honorability when dealing with Leontes' extreme demands. Carlson, meanwhile, seems to be relegated as Leontes' Jiminy Cricket, being the constant voice of reason. Carlson delivers these moments as Paulina with determination and a great comedic flair. Perdita is played by Lieberman with a sincere wonder and na'veté. Knight admirably does what he can with the role of Florizel and he achieves a definite sense of nobility, but the character isn't very remarkable. A real highlight however is the mischievous thief Autolycus, played with wondrous playfulness by Lenny Sommervell '12. Her antics help to bring a comedic quality to the otherwise inconsistent second act. There is a bit of jumbled line delivery by all the performers throughout, with not every moment coming across clearly, but in a show filled with monologues and long speeches, those mishaps are easily forgivable.

Overall, the show's direction is fantastic. The movement and constant changes, with the characters moving in and out on a regular basis, is not so easy to portray fluidly, but Karol's direction is swift and energized, particularly during the show's vibrant first act. This is not an easy feat, especially considering this was her first directorial gig, "I had been involved in Hold Thy Peace since the beginning of my freshman year," Karol said, "I had sort of tried my hand at directing once in high school in a very small project, but I fell in love with this play. It's been really incredible. Everything came together really well." Karol's first major directorial venture is indeed an achievement, showing hallmarks of a director with a much larger range of experience.

Overall, The Winter's Tale is a play marked with vivid, intriguing direction and inspired, motivated performances. Despite a partially- stale second act, the production makes up for it with a remarkable team of talents. It is clear that a great amount of time and dedication was spent in preparing for these roles; Peleg notes that his monologue rehearsal time was particularly helpful in preparing him. "We did some alone monologue time, me and Steph, because I have a lot of them. That was amazing; working one on one with your director on monologue time-every actor should have that feeling."

Karol, meanwhile, comments that, "Probably my favorite point in this whole process was the scene at the beginning between Leontes and Camilla. [Peleg] decided that he wanted to put his hand on her shoulders and do this menacing thing-and the way she reacted to it was unbelievable. She's been making this face ever since, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I couldn't ask for a better cast. The way they gelled together and took cues off of each other . was unbelievable." Karol is absolutely right. The actors did indeed gel together incredibly, as did the production as a whole.

The complete interview with director Stephanie Karol '12 can be found online at www.thejustice.org.