Review Roundup: THE WINTER'S TALE Starring Judi Dench

The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare?s timeless tragicomedy of obsession and redemption, is reimagined in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh following their triumphant staging of Macbeth in Manchester and Manhattan. Judi Dench will play Paulina opposite Kenneth Branagh as Leontes.

The full cast for The Winter's Tale includes: Pierre Atri (Mamillius), Jaygann Ayeh (Archidamus & The Old Shepherd's Servant), Tom Bateman (Florizel), Jessie Buckley (Perdita), Vera Chok (Dorcas & First Lady), Jack Colgrave Hirst (Clown),John Dagleish (Autolycus), Hadley Fraser (Polixenes), Adam Garcia (Amadis), Rudi Goodman (Mamillius), Matthew Hawksley (Aegeum), Taylor James (Capnio), Pip Jordan (Shepherdess), Ansu Kabia (Cleomenes), Stuart Neal (Dion),Michael Pennington (Antigonus), Zoë Rainey (Emilia), Miranda Raison (Hermione), Michael Rouse(Gaoler & Mariner), John Shrapnel (Camillo), Kathryn Wilder (Mopsa) and Jimmy Yuill (The Shepherd).

The Winter's Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainermake up the inaugural seven-play season of work for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Gary Naylor, BroadwayWorld.com: In this production, that task falls to Dame Judi Dench, whose mere presence would carry an almost irresistible authority were she reading out a shopping list, never mind clarifying the appalling consequences of the King's irrational rage. And, though of course she's very good and a prime reason why the run is largely sold out, I'm sure I'm not alone in being unable to turn off a voice in my head that insisted on saying, "Look - it's THE Dame Judi!" whenever she tried to inject some reason into the King's boneheadedness.

Michael Coveney, WhatsOnStage: The play is one of emotional and geographical extremes: the passage of time denoted in Dench's riveting Chorus at the start of the fourth act; the dilemma of Michael Pennington's dear old Antigonus abandoning the baby on the beach before the famous "exit pursued by a bear" (I've seen that stage direction better done, though); the raucous scenes of shepherds, sheep, flowers and John Dagleish's high tenor Autolycus, that "snapper up of unconsidered trifles," leading the folksy fandango in the suddenly softer world of a bamboo-bedecked Bohemia.

Paul Taylor, The Independent: For an actor/director whose reputation is that of mild-mannered, chipper chap, Branagh seems to have a profound intuitiveness about mental disturbance. He is entirely persuasive as a monarch who semi-wilfully tears apart his family. He lets you see that Leontes is a piercing exile in his own country, self-banished from everything he valued and loved. Except for Judi Dench's inspired Paulina. Most movingly, she plays the friend of his wife Hermione - portrayed with immense dignity by Miranda Raison - who through 16 years is "there" for him as a combination of goading tormentor and loving protector. With those husky tones that can impart a note of witty asperity to radiant generosity and vice versa, Dench is ideal casting for this character who seems to be in cahoots with Shakespeare.

Michael Billington, The Guardian: Branagh and Dench are surrounded by a first-rate team. Miranda Raison lends the wronged and persecuted Hermione a shining self-belief, Michael Pennington brings a lifetime's Shakespearean experience to the role of the bear-pursued Antigonus and John Dagleish is a suitably nimble-fingered Autolycus. You go to see the stars and, in the words of a Sondheim song, in comes company.

Ann Treneman, The Times: You would think that, of all people, Branagh would not mess up Shakespeare. You would be wrong. This [The Winter's Tale] is the first play in the inaugural Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company season at the Garrick: he stars and co-directs with Rob Ashford, which makes it doubly disappointing. Branagh's performance is mystifyingly OTT. The star of the show, without question, is Dench, who is effortless to watch. She alone appears to be natural, nuanced, sane, holding the stage whenever she's on it, which isn't enough. I have to assume that the standing ovation was for her.

Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out: Still, while Branagh has the biggest role, it's Dame Judi Dench on the posters, and thank the theatre gods for her. As Hermione's loyal companion Paulina, she has an easy charm as a twinkly-eyed busybody with hidden depths. She has a lot of lines for a relatively minor role, and she speaks the verse breathtakingly well, investing it with a vibrant effortlessness that shears through the air and stands in total contrast to Branagh's frantic, distracting busyness.

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