David Hou<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt begins in 1968, with Mitsue\u2019s son bringing home his girlfriend\u2019s mother Phyllis (Jacklyn Francis) and father, Ralph, for dinner. The usual concerns about sweethearts\u2019 folks meeting for the first time \u2014 what to make, what to wear \u2014 are compounded by the \u2018rents\u2019 traumatic histories, which painfully unfold as we rewind to the 1930s. <\/p>\n
Mitsue (Yoshie Bancroft, empathic and wonderful) and her family experience racism in Vancouver and eventually are put in an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the same time, Ralph (Jeff Lillico, a flesh-and-blood time capsule) fights overseas for Canada and becomes one of Japan\u2019s prisoners of war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end comes an affirming and deeply moving mutual understanding that suggests that an opportunity to heal is always on the table.<\/p>\n
Based on Mark Sakamoto\u2019s memoir, playwright Hiro Kanagawa occasionally overloads the dialogue with cliches and lofty phrasing. But, on the whole, \u201cForgiveness\u201d is an impressive feat. The huge number of locales and events are deftly woven together, and staged with sweep and intimacy by Stafford Arima.<\/p>\nA new play called \u201cForgiveness\u201d spans four decades in the lives of two Canadian families. David Hou<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFamily drama and the long passage of time also power the festival\u2019s best show of the 2025 roster, Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cThe Winter\u2019s Tale,\u201d directed by Antoni Cimolino.<\/p>\n
The superb romance exemplifies why I don\u2019t know how to quit Stratford, where I\u2019ve been schlepping to for 18 years. The must-sees are often quirky \u2014 a \u201cWinter\u2019s Tale\u201d or a \u201cCymbeline,\u201d rather than a \u201cHamlet\u201d or \u201cRomeo and Juliet.\u201d And the company routinely does the Bard better than any theater in New York so much as approaches, certainly including the Public\u2019s Shakespeare in the Park so-so productions of late.<\/p>\n
Graham Abbey\u2019s King Leontes, a brilliant piece of casting, ranks with the finest Shakespearean performances I\u2019ve enjoyed anywhere. As the jolly actor\u2019s natural gregariousness peels away to reveal his character\u2019s twisted and unfounded jealousy of his wife Hermione (Sara Topham) and best friend Polixenes (Andr\u00e9 Sills), the rapt audience stares on disgusted and devastated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I suspect more than a few relate.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Winter\u2019s Tale\u201d is as fine a Shakespeare production as you\u2019ll ever see. David Hou<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLeontes alone implodes the lives of himself, his pregnant wife and his poor young little son Mammillus over a hot-blooded hunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What\u2019s strange and lovable \u2014 foul and fair, if you like \u2014 about \u201cThe Winter\u2019s Tale\u201d is that much of the second half, 16 years after those royal horrors, is a delightful romp. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s spritely dancing and a pair of fabulous clowns \u2014 feisty favorite Geraint Wyn Davies as Autolycus and zany Christo Graham as the Young Shepard. Graham, by the way, is Alfredo from Pixar\u2019s \u201cRatatouille\u201d come to life.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be totally fooled by the mirth. The final scene between Hermione, Leontes and Yanna McIntosh\u2019s excellent Paulina is more heartbreaking and heartwarming than you have ever seen it before.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Winter\u2019s Tale\u201d was Stratford\u2019s best show of the 2025 season. David Hou.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAnd then, just when we think Leontes has earned a second chance in old age, Abbey and Cimolino powerfully remind us that some choices cannot be undone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This extraordinary \u201cWinter\u2019s Tale\u201d is a combo of tragedy and euphoria in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
How tragic that it\u2019s already closed!<\/p>\n
And how happy that it\u2019s been professionally filmed for a theatrical release and eventual streaming.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there are plenty of shows to catch before the season\u2019s end \u2014 even if you might exit, pursued by a blizzard.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I arrived at the Stratford Festival in Ontario this year, there was snow on the ground and wreaths on the doors. In late September. But it wasn\u2019t because of premature Canadian frost and exuberant holiday cheer. No, a Christmas movie was being filmed in the lovely town that boasts exceptional Shakespeare stagings, modern plays […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2118989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[21741,345885,350667,22176,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2118988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-entertainment","tag-musicals","tag-plays","tag-shakespeare","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/At-the-Stratford-Festival-a-back-flipping-Annie-and-hilarious-Dirty.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2118988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2118990,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118988\/revisions\/2118990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2118989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2118988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2118988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2118988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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