Characters (Cast Size 17 to 22)
Women:
Hermione Sicilia:30 to 50’s. Must be able to age up or down 16 years for different parts of the story. Will have at least one very quick costume change. Will be portrayed as pregnant for part of the play. The daughter of wealthy and influential socialites. In the tale and before the deaths of her loved ones she was a highly respected public figure known for grace, stoicism and elegance – think Jackie Kennedy in the Camelot years. Wife to Leontes, mother to Mamillius and, in the tale, soon to be mother of Perdita. Hermione of the “real” world is a shell of her former self. Plagued by grief, she is afraid to move on with her life; too accustomed to tragedy to hope for love and happiness. Nevertheless, she has accepted a marriage proposal from “real” world Polixenes, if for no other reason than that he is the only one who truly understands and shares in her grief and because he has been a rock for her to lean on for so long.
Paulina Partlett:30 to 50’s. Must be able to age up or down 16 years for different parts of the story. A fiercely independent feminist and gifted painter / sculptor. Never one to let men tell her what her place is, she is often the one putting them in theirs. In the real world and in the tale she remains constant in her loyalty to Hermione. She is a friend who comforts Hermione in her grief and an advocate who will kick ass and take names to defend her against any that might do her wrong. She loves her husband Antigonus, but she definitely wears the pants in their marriage. Domineering at times, but never without cause.
Perdita:16. Can cast older, but actor must be able to portray a teenage girl convincingly. Daughter of Hermione and Leontes. Exists only in the tale. Unaware of her true parents, Perdita has been raised in a rural hippie commune in Bohemia by a Shepherd and his/her son/daughter. She blends somewhat with the hippies and vagrants around her, but carries herself with an unpretentious, natural air of nobility that gives her distinction. She is a graceful free spirit with a passion for life and beauty. One can see where the rumors that she is actually a fairy changeling came from. She is in love with Florizel, son of Polixenes and Prince of Bohemia. Their love is forbidden because of her station but Florizel will not be dissuaded.
Emilia:Nurse/mid-wife to Hermione. Could be any age, but will likely be in her 20’s as ideally the actor cast will also play Mopsa in the second half of the play.
Mopsa:20’s ideally, somewhat flexible. A capricious flirt who vies for the affections of the Clown and is really excited when her man buys her trinkets.
Dorcas:20’s ideally, somewhat flexible. A pickpocket vagrant who poses as just another free-spirited hippie and competes with Mopsa for the Clown’s affections – so she can steal from him. In love with Autolycus, she impresses him by out-rogueing the rogue. Few lines but a lot of flair. Actor cast will likely play other roles in other parts of the play.
Men:
Leontes Sicilia:30 to 50’s. Must be able to age up or down 16 years for different parts of the story. A powerful statesman and beloved husband of Hermione. Father to Mamillius. In the “real” world he is prudent, wise, loving, handsome and a just leader. In the world of the tale he suddenly and inexplicably overcome with a violent and irrational jealousy that destroys his family. He accuses Hermione of sleeping with Polixenes and plotting with Polixenes to kill him. He attempts to have Polixenes murdered and has his newborn daughter Perdita deserted on the shores of Bohemia because he believes she is the bastard child of Polixenes. In the end the Leontes’ of the tale realizes his error, mourns the loss of Mamillius and Hermione, and is eventually rewarded when after 16 years his lost heir Perdita is found and a statue of Hermione comes to life. In this production his irrational behavior in the tale is to be seen as a manifestation of the “real” world Hermione’s guilt and fear at the thought of moving past his death.
Polixenes:30 to 50’s. Should be close in age to the actor playing Leontes. Must be able to age up or down 16 years for different parts of the story. Not rich per se, but refined. A scholarly type. Best friend of Leontes since early childhood. Though not literal brothers they refer to each other as brother throughout the play and their bond of fraternal love is as strong as blood. In the “real” world he is a true friend to Hermione who comforted her through the deaths of Leontes, Perdita and Mamillius. The “real” world Polixenes is engaged to be married to the “real” world Hermione in the spring.
Antigonus Partlett:30 – 50’s. Antigonus only appears in the first half of the play. He is husband to the fiercely independent Paulina and he is completely whipped. A loyal subject to Leontes, but lacks the spine to stand up to him willfully when he knows he is wrong. He attempts to dissuade Leontes from his destructive jealousy, but ends up agreeing to leave Perdita for dead on the shores of Bohemia to save her from being burned in a fire at home. He exits pursued by a bear and presumably dies, but may later be reincarnated as Autolycus if the actor cast as Antigonus can also play a freewheeling rogue who sings, plays an instrument (tambourine counts) and picks pockets.
Autolycus:30’s – 60’s. Rogue. Pickpocket. Swindler. Conman. Autolycus would find all of these terms exceptionally complimentary. He claims to have once served the Prince Florizel. He probably sold him weed. Actor must be able to sing and play some sort of portable instrument. Could be a guitar, could be a tambourine. The singing doesn’t have to be good, but it could be. The big thing is he has to be charming, in a kind of sleazy way. May cast the same actor as Antigonus in the first half of the play if actor can play a totally whipped husband to Paulina. In a way, Autolycus could be what Antigonus becomes after he has a midlife crisis and sees an opportunity at a new life without his wife bossing him around all the time. Some people buy sports cars, some people become wandering gypsies. Did he really get eaten by a bear or was that a drug addled figment of the Clown’s imagination? We may never be totally sure.
Florizel:Son of Polixenes, in love with Perdita. An idealist, a true romantic and a wannabe free spirit. Hangs out with the hippies even though his father disapproves of such behavior. A total Trustafarian (you can look it up on urbandictionary.com if you don’t know what this means!).
Roles for Either Gender:
Camillo:20’s to 60’s. Leontes’s most loyal advisor. Must be able to age up or down 16 years for different parts of the story. The classic true servant. Loyal, ethical, brave and trustworthy. He/she disobeys Leontes’ order to kill Polixenes knowing that Leontes has been overcome by an irrational jealousy that he will live to regret. To be true he/she must seem false. To remain by Leontes’ side in the truest sense, he/she must leave Leontes in the literal sense and forsake his/her home.
Archidamus:20’s to 60’s. Personal assistant to Polixenes. Must be able to age up or down 16 years for different parts of the story. Foil to Camillo. Where Camillo is a loyal and trustworthy servant, Archidamus’s loyalty is for sale to the highest bidder, or whoever looks like they are going to come out on top in a conflict. He/she deserts Polixenes and tattles on Camillo’s plan to fly Sicilia in hopes of gaining Leontes’ favor. A yes-man and a social climber who only looks out for number one.
Sheperd:30’s to 60’s. King (or perhaps Queen) of the hippies. He/She’s the one who bought the land and built the farm that all these young hippies have made their communal hang-out spot. He/She is very good-natured and caring and takes in Perdita and raises her as his/her own daughter. Father/Mother of the Clown. Must be believable as the father/mother of the actor playing the Clown.
Clown:20’s to 30’s. Young, attractive, sincere, but not the brightest bulb. Is really excited that two women (Mopsa and Dorcas) are fighting over him. Most likely male, but could also be a lesbian. Either way, he/she feels really confident in his/her ability to get hot chicks, even if one of them is stealing from him/her outright and the other is using him/her for his/her willingness to buy her trinkets.
Cleomenes:Cleomenes and Dion are sort of the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of The Winter’s Tale. Pretty interchangeable and although they are not the most central characters to the play, there is room for the actors to have fun with this and come up with some good shtick.
Dion:Cleomenes and Dion are sort of the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of The Winter’s Tale. Pretty interchangeable and although they are not the most central characters to the play, there is room for the actors to have fun with this and come up with some good shtick.
Ensemble Roles:Servant, First Lord, Gaoler, Officer. Any age/gender/type. Will likely be played by actors playing additional roles elsewhere in the play.