People dancing on stage

The Winter's Tale

William Shakespeare

Considered either as a comedy or a romance, Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale contains his most famous and challenging stage direction: 'Exit, pursued by a bear'.

Past productions

Our productions of The Winter’s Tale over the years have included many famous actors playing the jealous Leontes: Eric Porter in 1960; Ian McKellen in 1976; Patrick Stewart in 1981; Jeremy Irons in 1986; John Nettles in 1992; Antony Sher in 1999; Anton Lesser in 2006 and Greg Hicks in 2009.

Here you can find out more about some of our key past productions, giving you an insight into how they were staged and the directorial choices that were made.