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 (play) the gardener and coachman. "The Bear"'s comedy derives from the characters' lack of self-knowledge. The widow Popova fancies herself inconsolably bereaved, while Smirnov considers himself a misogynist. They are both stock examples of "alazons": figures made ludicrous by pretending to be more than they actually are. "The Bear" is one of many of Chekhov's "farce-vaudevilles", which also includes "The Proposal," "A Tragedian in Spite of Himself", and the unfinished "Night before the Trial". In a letter to Yakov Polonsky on February 22, 1888 Chekhov wrote: Chekhov used the French play "Les Jurons de Cadillac" by Pierre Berton as inspiration for