Kenneth Branagh takes over the Garrick Theatre!

The Garrick Theatre will be presenting Shakespeare's "problem play" The Winter's Tale, directed by Branagh and his new theatre company. One of five plays spearheaded by the esteemed actor/director following Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer, The Winter's Tale will star Branagh, the legendary Dame Judi Dench, and John Dagleish of Sunny Afternoon fame.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

A tale of jealousy, betrayal and ultimate redemption, The Winter's Tale follows the fortunes of King Leontes of Sicilia and his childhood friend, the Bohemian king Polixenes. Leontes is possessed by a sudden jealousy that Polixenes has seduced his wife Hermione, and suspects that her unborn baby isn't his. Consumed by fury, he orders his manservant Camillo to poison Polixenes; instead, he warns the king, and the two flee. Meanwhile, Hermione is thrown into prison under her husband's suspicion of treason.

When the baby arrives, Leontes' heart fails to soften, and orders his newborn daughter to be abandoned to the Fates. Sixteen long years pass and the baby Perdita is raised by a kindly shepherd. Leontes learns from the Delphi Oracle that his wife was innocent and that the baby was his; he mourns his stupidity and tries to make amends for his evil. But in a twist of fate, he is reunited with his long-lost daughter, and finally receives the deliverance he has been looking for.