Staging Shakespeare's the Winter's Tale: Avoiding Derision by Treating it as Meta-Narrative or Soap Opera

William Shakespeare's latter period romance The Winter's Tale is very often treated in a tripartite manner in productions. This method is in keeping with the fact that the very essence of this most unrealistic of Shakespeare's plays is in a constant state of flux. The opening two acts stand in direct contrast with the later scenes that take place in Bohemia. Despite the play's title, only the first two acts actually take place in the winter and they are presented in a manner that is juxtaposed considerably with the lighthearted and spring-like Acts Three and Four, as well as the revisit to the opening locale in Act Five which has changed following a rebirth of sorts.