16 Winters, or the Bear's Tale

Show Info

Title

16 Winters or the Bear’s Tale

Playwright

Mary Hamilton

Director

Mary Beth Easley

Stage Manager

Matt Tepfer

Category

Mainstage

First Rehearsal

September 28

Load In/Tech /Dress

October 30 - November 5

Performances

November 6 - 8 & 11 - 14

Roles to be cast

Age (Presentation)

Gender (Presentation)

Description

HER

Female

Strong-willed, passionate, and woefully misinformed about the ways of the

world. A Queen. Wealthy.

PAULY

Female

Stoic, practical, good-intentioned, in love with HER. Working class. (Already cast)

LEO

Male

Impulsive, overly self-reflective, sentimental to a fault. A King. Wealthy. HER's

husband. Must sing (Already cast)

GHOST OF DEAD PRINCE

7 (can be any)

Any

Contemplative, intuitive, precocious. HER and LEO's dead son.

THE BEAR/TIME

Any

Male

Hungry. In his body. Unpredictable. Middle class.

POL

Male

King of Bohemia. Used to getting his way. Upper Class.

Female

Beautiful, ambitious, an artist. Wants authenticity and feels it's impossible to

find. Middle class. A shepherd's daughter with the soul of a princess. Or the other way around.

SHEP

Male

Impetuous. Frustrated by his lot in life. In love with P. Lower-middle class.

JULIAN

Male

Artistic, generally stoned, generally content. Middle class.

SPRING

Female

Peacemaker, artist, Pollyanna. Lower-middle class.

FLORY

Male

Comes from money but wishes he didn't, has artistic leanings but no talent of

his own. A thinker. Wealthy.

Synopsis

16 Winters or The Bear’s Tale takes place during the 16-year gap between acts one and two of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. After being condemned by her husband for adultery, Her escapes to a small cottage in Bohemia where her attendant, Pauly, cares for her. With nothing to do and little company, the two women do their best to survive the tedium, while the king laments his actions and starts an aging rock band. Meanwhile, their abandoned child, P., takes up with some bohemian artists and rebels against the patriarchy…while also falling in love with one of its better-looking representatives. Full of love, jealousy, mistaken identity and male privilege gone wrong, 16 Winters explores the effects of reimagining social constructs, and asks whether it is truly possible to create something new in the wake of repression

Notices

Contains themes of grief, death, abuse and violence.

Fight Choreography Breakdown:

Page	Stage Directions/ Planned Action	Character(s)	Notes
1	Suddenly, the door bursts open, and PAULY enters, carrying HER on her back. They are both laughing hysterically. PAULY holds several pieces of luggage which she lets fall.	Pauly/HER	Could be considered Intimacy too
31	Beat. HER heads for the door. PAULY starts to get in her way but restrains herself. HER hesitates, her hand on the door. She stops. PAULY hands her a cup of tea.	Pauly/HER
50	POL starts to stand, chivalrous. HER pulls him back down.	POL/HER	Could be considered Intimacy too
113	LORY pushes SHEP. SHEP pushes FLORY. FLORY knocks SHEP to the ground. They fight! P. tries to break them apart but they barely notice she’s there.	Shep/Flory/P
113	Beat. They stop and look at her a second...then, too caught up in the moment, resume their fight. P. looks around, then she runs out from the hut, just as: BEAR enters. Fully Bear Now. He runs toward P. HER enters from elsewhere, sees this, and instinctively aims her rifle and shoots BEAR. A beat. Everyone freezes	Bear/HER	Moment of “shooting” another character

Intimacy Choreography Breakdown:

Page	Stage Directions/ Planned Action	Character(s)	Notes
36	POL steps back, frightened. HER places a hand on his arm. He stares at it. It doesn’t feel like a ghost.	POL/HER
46	(embraces PAULY)	HER/Pauly
50	POL and HER lie on an animal skin on the floor, staring into each other’s eyes. (Something’s happened.)	POL/HER
55	POL relents. They kiss. PAULY suddenly bursts in the door. She stares at them.	POL/HER/Pauly
65	SHEP sits close to P., staring at her a little too intensely.	SHEP/P
68	SHEP poses with his arm around P. P. makes a face: enduring.	SHEP/P
89	P. lays her head on his lap.	P/Flory
100	They embrace	POL/Leo
107	SPRING and P. make out.	Spring/P	This goes on for a whole page of dialogue

Important Dates/Holidays

10/2-10/3 Sh’mini Atzeret *, 10/4 Simchat Torah*, 10/11-10/20 Navaratri, 10/12 Indigenous Peoples' Day, 10/12 Columbus Day (Fed. Observed), 10/20 Dasara/ Dussehra, 10/31 Halloween/ All Hallows Eve, 11/1 All Saints Day, 11/1 Dia de los Muertos, 11/1 Samhain*, 11/1 Daylight Saving Time Ends, 11/3 Election Day, 11/8 Diwali, 11/11 Veteran’s Day (Fed. Observed)

* Holidays marked with an asterisk (*) begin at sundown on the previous day.

Callback List

The callback list will be available following auditions, Friday, August 28 (approximately 11:30pm).

Cast List

The cast list will be available following the casting meeting Sunday, August 30 (approximately 10:30pm).

Contact

Questions?

Matt Tepfer, Stage Manager

TBA, Assistant Stage Manager