A filmed adaptation of The Winter’s Tale will be broadcast on BBC Four on Sunday 25 April 2021 at 7pm, celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday weekend and marking the first time in RSC history that a production will have a televised World Premiere.
The production will subsequently be available on BBC iPlayer, and the RSC will also stream the production to Subscribers, Members and Patrons based outside the UK following the BBC broadcast. This filmed adaptation, with plans for cinema and DVD release, will be the only opportunity to experience the production, as there are currently no plans for a future staged run.
The Winter’s Tale film adaptation forms part of BBC Lights Up, an unprecedented season of plays for BBC TV and radio, produced in partnership with theatres across the UK and continuing BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine initiative.
Directed by Erica Whyman, RSC Deputy Artistic Director, and featuring the entire cast due to appear in the postponed 2020 production, The Winter’s Tale has been re-rehearsed adhering to strict safety measures. It has been adapted for the television broadcast by the original creative team, including; Set Design by Tom Piper, Costume Design by Madeleine Girling, Lighting by Prema Mehta, Music by Isobel Waller-Bridge, Movement by Anna Morrissey, and Fights by Kate Waters. The production features Screen Direction by Bridget Caldwell. The cast includes Ben Caplan as Camillo, Andrew French as Polixenes, Amanda Hadingue as Paulina, Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Hermione and Joseph Kloska as Leontes.
