The Winter’s Tale review: jarring Shakespeare's Globe production lacks warmth

The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s great “hospitality plays” – a tragicomedy about what goes wrong when a guest outstays their welcome.

Leontes, king of Sicilia, suspects his friend Polixenes, the king of Bohemia, of adultery and catastrophe ensues. In keeping with the 16th-century genre, however, the villain is eventually reformed and the friends – and husband and wife – reconcile.

Director Sean Holmes and designer Grace Smart discuss their staging of The Winter’s Tale.