Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Announces Cast For Shakespeare's THE WINTER'S TALE

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company has announced the cast of this summer's production of Shakespeare's moving epic, The Winter's Tale, on the Boston Common, directed by Associate Artistic Director Bryn Boice.

Performances begin on Tuesday, July 16 and run through Sunday, August 4 at the Parkman Bandstand. The production is presented in partnership with the City of Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Ryan Woods, and Boston Chief of Arts and Culture, Kara Elliott-Ortega.

King Leontes of Sicilia falsely accuses his wife, Hermione, of infidelity with his best friend, the King of Bohemia. Blind with jealousy and convinced that he is right, Leontes' torment causes a storm of loss. Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale is a captivating parable of betrayals, renewed hope, and the transformative power of time. 

The principal cast members include an all-star group of New England-area talent including: Nael Nacer (Macbeth, The Tempest at CSC, A Prayer for the French Republic at the Huntington and Broadway) as Leontes; Marianna Bassham (Macbeth, Othello, Twelfth Night at CSC, People Places and Things at Speakeasy Stage) as Hermione; Omar Robinson (Macbeth at CSC, Common Ground Revisited at the Huntington) as Polixenes, King of Bohemia); Paula Plum (multi-Elliot Norton Award-winner, founding member of Actors' Shakespeare Project) as Paulina/Time; Tony Estrella (Cymbeline at CSC, A Prayer for the French Republic at The Huntington, Artistic Director at Gamm Theatre) as Camillo; Richard Snee (The Taming of the Shrew at CSC, The Minutes at Umbrella Stage) as The Shepherd; Robert Walsh (Coriolanus, Macbeth, Henry V at CSC, founding member of Actors Shakespeare Project) as Antigonus; Ryan Winkles (Universe Rushing Apart: Blue Kettle and Here We Go at CSC, Joy and Pandemic at the Huntington, “Boston Strangler”) as Autolycus; Joshua Olumide (A Raisin in the Sun at New Rep, the Oscar-winning film “American Fiction”) as Florizel; and Nettie Chickering (Much Ado about Nothing for CSC) as Emilia. 

The cast also includes the CSC2 company with Clara Hevia as Perdita, Cleveland Nicoll as Clown, John Blair as First Lord, Bella Grace Harris as Gaoler/Bohemian Servant, Ednilson Tavares as Second Lord, Ryan Richard Doyle as Cleomenes, Dyce Stephens as Dion, Chloe Boyan as First Lady/Dorcas, Rilyn Gardner as Second Lady/Mopsa, and Anne Borzner as Doctor/First Gentleman, with youth artist Eviva Rose (Macbeth for CSC) as Mamillius. 

Creative Team for The Winter's Tale will be announced on a later date.

Performances of The Winter's Tale will take place at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common and are FREE of charge. Audience members can bring their own blankets/chairs or can rent chairs in advance or on-site for $10, and are permitted to bring modest food items to consume at the show. Seats in the CSC Friends section will be available for reservation in late May through a donation to CSC.

CSC provides a range of accessibility services, including open captioning, assistive listening devices, large print and Braille programs at every performance, and ASL interpretation and audio description at selected performances. Information on dates, times and services will be available soon at commshakes.org/accessibility.  

The Winter's Tale is supported by our generous sponsors and partners including The Liberty Mutual Foundation, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Daymarc Foundation, the Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Ovation TV, Xfinity, the City of Boston, the Theater League of Kansas City, GBH, EDGE Media Network, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Downtown Boston BID, the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, City of Boston Parks and Recreation, Suffolk University, The Newbury Boston, Barton and Guestier, and Boston Common Magazine.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC), best known for its annual free performances on Boston Common, is a non-profit theater organization founded in 1996, dedicated to artistic excellence, accessibility, and education. CSC's Free Shakespeare on the Common has served over one million audience members over its 27-year history and has become a beloved summer tradition enjoyed by more than 50,000 people annually. Most recently, CSC presented Macbeth (with Faran Tahir and Joanne Kelly), directed by Steven Maler in 2023, Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian in 2022, and The Tempest (with John Douglas Thompson as Prospero) to great acclaim in 2021.

In addition to its live theatre productions, CSC also provides robust Education and Training programs, including our Apprentice Training Program and CSC2 company for early-career actors, and Stage2 programming for middle and high school students and educators. For more information, visit commshakes.org.

Photo Credit: Nile Scott

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