Sixteen years and one notorious stage direction (“Exit, pursued by a bear”) later, the play turns to Bohemia, sheep-shearing, and the next generation, and begins moving toward forgiveness.
The final scene is one of the great coups of theatre, and the less you know going in, the better — if any ending in Shakespeare deserves spoiler protection, it is this one. The pairing of cruelty and grace makes it, for many readers, the essential late play.
Winter's Tale on screen
1The Winter's Tale (1981)
TV film · dir. Jane Howell
BBC Television Shakespeare
2Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale (2015)
Stage capture · dir. Kenneth Branagh, Rob Ashford
Judi Dench as Paulina; Garrick season broadcast
Reading Winter's Tale this year?
Mark it in your record when you finish — one seat, kept for decades.