Beginning Feb. 21, the Lindenwood Theatre will perform Shakespeare’s famous “The Winter’s Tale.”
The story spans over 16 years, set into motion when the jealous King Leontes falsely accuses his wife Hermione of cheating with his best friend. This action causes his newborn daughter Perdita to be abandoned in a foreign land. The infant is discovered, raised by shepherds, and falls in love with the son of Leontes’ friend. 16 years later, the characters are reconciled and find themselves needing to reconnect.
“I worked at a Shakespeare company two years ago and there I really learned to love what Shakespeare can really mean,” student production manager, Lauren Porter said. “He was very authentic with many emotions.”
The music for the production is a completely original score, produced and created by Aidan Byrnes, a senior majoring in Music Business and Entrepreneurship.
“I’m interested in writing music for the media, and I’ve never written for theatre before. I found a film adaptation and scored it. There’s a lot of aesthetic differences with our version of it,” Byrnes said. “Looking at the designs from our set designer and our costume designer, I was able to generate ideas that kind of fit with our aesthetic. I took a blend of period sounds and modern instrumentations.”
His creativity in making the music varies from changing the tempo to incorporating different instruments, and other qualities.
“I took a violin bow to a magazine rack to make one of the pieces,” Byrnes said.
The design and production for the show is run by senior Josiah Haan, who is majoring in Technical Theatre and Design. The process of coming up with the design was a two to three months period of communication and creative ideas.
“Donna, the director, shared her vision for the show, and from there we had a process of design meetings where I would work on my own, coming up with concept sketchings, renderings, and stuff like that, and then present it in these design meetings. Getting feedback and working with the other designers on the collaborations for a cohesive design for the show,” Haan said.
With a group of 15 to 20 people, Haan was able to create a stage that feels straight out of a Shakespearean story. The set is primarily made from wood, silk, platforms, and lots of paint. It took around two months to build and paint.
“Once we got to the final design for the set, we then went into the production of building and painting the whole show,” Hans said. “It’s definitely a process of reading the material, looking at what themes stick out to me and the environment that I want the audience to feel in. I really wanted this show to feel environmental and immersive.”
The production is free for students and faculty, and only $10 for the general public.
The show will be from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24. For further questions or to order tickets, email [email protected] or call 636-949-4433.
