The American Players Theatre in Wisconsin recently staged Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” as part of its summer season.
One reason I attended the semi-tragic comedy was because it includes my favorite Shakespearean character stage direction, “Exit, chased by bear.” The minor character’s gruesome dismembership occurs offstage, although it’s referred to later.
The bear’s appearance is completely unheralded. It plays no role except to underscore the wildness of Bohemia, in which the character has landed.
According to scholars, it’s unlikely Shakespeare penned the stage direction. More likely, it was later inserted by a stage manager, as were most such directives.
What amuses me is Shakespeare’s geographical failure. The play is set in Sicily and Bohemia, and it requires frequent seaborn trafficking between them. But the distance is more than 800 miles.
And while such distance might be overcome with optimal winds, Bohemia is a landlocked part of central Europe – with no coastline. It’s also a mystery how the respective kings could have been childhood friends.
In retrospect, it’s easy to criticize. That’s why the “willing suspension of disbelief” is so vital.
