The Winter's Tale (opera) British composer's first opera." The Winter's Tale (opera) The Winter's Tale is an opera in three acts by Ryan Wigglesworth. The libretto is by the composer, based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. The opera, in a production directed by Rory Kinnear, and conducted by the composer, was premiered at the English National Opera on 27 February 2017. The opera follows the main story of the play, reduced to three acts, and dropping the character Autolycus, and some other well-known features of the play such as Antigonus's stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear". Act I
The Bear Dances line is cut. After delivering Vladimir's funeral oration offstage (which we hear), a tearful Vera enters to say goodbye to Andrey before he is carried off to Kiev. After a minute or two, she realises that the muffled figure in the dark room she has been addressing is not Andrey, but Elizaveta. The Orlovs have escaped. Elizaveta hints at what has happened; we guess Levine will not return. Vera raises the alarm – in vain. The play ends with Elizaveta attempting to console her weeping sister. The first dramatisation of the Soviets on London's West-end stage, "The Bear Dances" was