A summer tour of “The Winter’s Tale”

by Dawson Raspuzzi

Rutland Youth Theatre is taking its Shakespeare in the Park show on the road for five performances in the next four days.

The cast of 11, ranging in age from 13 to 18, will perform William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” tonight at Tinmouth School, followed by performances in Middlebury, Belmont and two in Rutland.

The cast is primarily made up of experienced actors, many of whom have performed together with the Youth Theatre for the past four or five years.

The handful of newcomers to the group have performed with their schools or other groups, which director Susan Baker said gave her confidence to choose one of Shakespeare’s more difficult plays.

Baker said she has wanted to direct “The Winter’s Tale” for many years and the cast has done a great job during rehearsals.

“The language for ‘The Winter’s Tale’ is extremely complex so it’s hard for them … but I would say they have come incredibly far since we got the cast in the middle of June.”

With 25 characters and 11 members, many actors must play multiple roles and wear different costumes.

Baker said she’s adapted the play in part to trim it down to a two-hour production although the theme and language remains the same.

Baker said that every time she directs one of Shakespeare’s plays, she’s impressed by how dedicated her actors are to the productions and the dialect.

“Together they discover what’s going on and what the words mean,” Baker said. “It’s like learning a foreign language for them, and I’m always amazed at how much they learn it.”

Last year was Rutland Youth Theatre’s first time performing outside of Rutland, which Baker said was a success for the most part. This year the group returns to all of the same locations, with the addition of Tinmouth.

Along with tonight’s play at 6:30 p.m. the group performs at the Middlebury Village Green at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Belmont Village Green at 2 p.m. Saturday and at the Godnick Senior Center at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday.

This summer’s productions began Tuesday with a performance at the Dana Recreation Center in Rutland and Wednesday at the Meeting House in Shrewsbury.

Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com.