One of the late romances in Shakespeare's canon, this complex work is at times tragic, at times humorous, but always entertaining and enlightening.
Sinead Cusack plays Hermione, and Ciaran Hinda plays Leontes. Eileen Atkins is Paulina and Paul Jesson is Polixenes. Time the Chorus is played by Sir John Gielgud.
Thus does Autolycus, the quick-witted and even quicker-tongued rouge of this play, describe himself. And sometimes the same words apply to me.
Before I joined Audible as a full-fledged member, the sales and Daily Deals loomed rather largely in my life. I'd snap up books that "looked good" or that I knew would be "good for me". Thus I have in my library War and Peace (granted, no trifle; I have yet to embark upon), Brave New World (which I enjoyed as far as a nightmare can be enjoyed) and Gulliver's Travels (which I loathed). And, since December of 2014, I've had The Winter's Tale.
After all, it's Shakespeare, right? Shakespeare is good and good for you, right? And it was only $1.95, if I remember. Yet it languished on my digital shelf for coming on two and a half years. Only when our local (free) Shakespeare Festival chose Winter's Tale as this summer's offering did I dig it out and listen.
All my objections that had kept me from listening quickly fell away. I thought it would be hard to distinguish the characters without seeing them on stage. Wrong. I feared the plot—in a play such as this, complex, quick, fanciful—would leave me far behind, panting to catch up. Not a problem. I even suspected the acting would be hammy. Quite the opposite.
This is a superb production, superbly done. I hadn't read the play since high school so the story (really a fairy tale) was completely fresh. Somehow Shakespeare managed to take an utterly implausible story (even when reading the scene, I can't tell from whence Leontes' baseless suspicions of his wife spring) and make it into something that made me laugh and, yes, even drop a tear.
"Is whispering nothing? Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses? Kissing with inside lip? Stopping the career Of laughter with a sigh?—a note infallible Of breaking honesty;—horsing foot on foot? Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more swift; Hours, minutes; noon, midnight? and all eyes Blind with the pin and web but theirs, theirs only, That would unseen be wicked?—is this nothing? Why, then the world and all that's in't is nothing; The covering sky is nothing; Bohemia nothing; My is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings, If this be nothing."
I can see why this play is called "complex" and "problematic." The tone shifts completely from the first act to the last. It begins as a tragedy in which King Leontes becomes irrationally convinced that his wife, Hermione, has been committing adultery with his best friend, the King of Bohemia, and that her child is that of Polixenes. This leads to a lot of death and misery, which makes the final act, in which everyone is reconciled, a miracle occurs, and the play ends with a Happy Ever After more typical of Shakespeare's more straightforward comedies, almost dissonant.
That and the fact that it has few of Shakespeare's famous quotable lines is probably the reason why it's one of his less frequently performed plays, but I think it's a great and twisty tale, and if the ending was a bit deux ex machina, it's still rich in humor and tragedy, and well worth listening to.
"Exit, pursued by a bear!"
It starts out as a problem play and ends up a problematic, pastoral mess. First, I should disclose, and probably have before, that I'm not a fan of Shakespeare's plays with songs. I'd even complain about the songs in A Midsummer Nights Dream if it wasn't such a damn fine play. But my main issue with this play isn't the music, the play is just uneven. It starts off crazynuts (in a good way): a mad/jealous king striking out at everything (friends, wives, counselors) and it moves through: lost and found children, mistaken identities, and reconciliations/reincarnations. However, it all ties off a bit TOO easy. I'm sure the uneven melodrama might play well in front of an half-drunk audience, I just didn't buy it. It left me feeling a bit cheap and used. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh, grumble, or clap at the end. Meh. I'd probably give the play two stars except for the use of d!ldos ('Jump her and thump her'?) and bears in the play. I guess, if you are going to throw EVERYTHING into a play, you might as well toss in rubber toys and Ursus Shakespearimus.
Would you listen to The Winter's Tale again? Why?
I will listen to The Winter's Tale again in a year or two. Shakespeare was the master of the English language--his witticism and story telling ability is masterful. While this story is not one of his better known ones, its still very good and worth the listen. The cast did a fantastic job emoting the story without having to see them.
I did not know this play at all, although I really love Shakespeare. Beautiful cast and wonderfully performed! You won't be disappointed.
If you could sum up The Winter's Tale in three words, what would they be?
A world class audio performance of a seldom performed work by The Bard.
The pacing throughout the work was excellent. Yes, this has undoubtedly been edited, but most performances of Shakespeare are trimmed for the stage as well.
The interplay between Gielgud and Cusack is very good. The entire ensemble is very well cast.
An excellent choice for a broad audio library!
I listened to the Arkangel audio while reading the play in E Book format from Delphi Complete Works of William Shakespeare. According to the Delphi book the main plot of the play was taken from a pastoral romance – Pandosto by Robert Greene p. in 1588. This is known as a Comedy although the first half of the play resembles more of a tragedy as two Kings who are friends find themselves at odds, one King (Leontes) falsely accuses the other (Polixenes) as having sired a child with his wife. Polixenes flees for his own Kingdom and when Leontes is proven wrong the harm has already been done. Years past and we find ourselves now in Polixenes country and this is where the most enjoyable scenes of the play take place. The music and songs are delightful and we even have a rogue for this one, very entertaining indeed. I don't know where the title comes from as it actually has nothing in common with the work but all the same it was a flawless, entertaining play. A full cast performance and they were brilliant.
I liked the play format and the narration was good. I also really enjoyed the first part of the play; the King's madness is quite evident in this portrayal. I found that part of the story very interesting and captivating.
Then we got to the last half of the play and I could not have been more bored. I don't know if it was the story line or the old language, but I didn't know what they were talking about some of the time nor did I care.
I rate the first half of the play a 4 and the second half a 2, for an overall rating of 3.


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Nehemiah Community Revitalization Corporation
Pursuing Kingdoms possibilities in our neighborhoods
"The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build…" Nehemiah 2:20
Nelson Cove: Potential New Affordable Housing Development Coming Soon!
July 29, 2020 By Nehemiah Manager
Input Needed
NELSON COVE
POTENTIAL NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT COMING SOON!
Nehemiah Community Revitalization Corporation is seeking input regarding design, location, amenities, and development/management of a proposed new affordable housing development. Nelson Cove will consist of 8 new townhomes for rent to persons making 60% and below of the area median income in Spartanburg County. We would love to hear from the community while planning this development. If you would like to give input, please send us an email to nmayer@nehemiahcrc.org or give us a call at (864) 430-6695 or (864) 423-9930. We look forward to hearing from you.
RFP Needmore Place
October 7, 2019 By Nehemiah CRC
Nehemiah CRC will receive a stipulated sum proposal, for the furnishing all labor and material for the work of all trades as called for in the Drawings and Specifications entitled Needmore Place, Greer, South Carolina, as prepared by the architect: Charles Gentry, AIA, Palmetto Architectural Group, 2435 East North Street, Ste. 1108 Greenville, SC 29615, telephone: (864) 233-3647. The project includes the construction of 1 three (3) bedroom two bath single family home to be constructed on McKissick Street in Greer, SC. Bids will be received for the General Work, which will include the work of ALL TRADES. Bids may be hand-carried or mailed to:
Nehemiah CRC
111-C South Main Street
Bids may also be faxed to (864) 751-5139 or e-mailed to nmayer@nehemiahcrc.org. Bids will be received no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, October 21, 2019. Late bids will not be considered. All Bid information meeting the requirements of this Invitation will be submitted to the Owner's Board for consideration. Bidders must also make positive efforts to use small and minority owned business and to offer employment, training and contracting opportunities in accordance with Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. The project will be partially funded with HOME funds provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and federal requirements will apply to the contract. The HOME Program is an Equal Housing Opportunity Program and is subject to the requirements of the Fair Housing Act of 1988, as amended. Minority, women, and Section 3 businesses (as defined by 24 CFR 135) are encouraged to participate.
Bid documents can be sent by Dropbox from the architect. Copies of Drawings and/or Specifications may be obtained from the architect's office at the cost of printing, handling, and mailing with no refunds.
A Performance and Payment Bond in the amount of 100 percent of the contract sum shall be required. All contractors shall be properly licensed under the State Laws governing their trade (State of South Carolina). The right to accept or reject any or all bids and waive informalities is reserved.
Home is Where the Heart Is 26th Anniversary Celebration
January 20, 2019 By Nehemiah Manager
Nehemiah CRC – Committed to Creating Neighborhoods of Hope for All South Carolinians.
JOIN THE CELEBRATION!
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2019 | 7 – 9:00 P.M.
GREER CITY HALL – GREER, SC
Click Here to Sponsor or Buy Tickets
Home is Where the Heart is – a 26th Anniversary Celebration will commemorate Nehemiah's work over the past 26 years and the impact it has made in the lives of families and communities across SC. Proceeds from the event will go directly to serving vulnerable populations who need a safe, affordable place to call home.
Participants in the evening will enjoy a seated dinner as they benefit from an inspirational address from Dr. Bernie Mazyck (CEO of SCACED – South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development). In addition to celebrating over a quarter century of building affordable homes we will also recognize a valuable leader and champion for our cause, Mr. William S. Nelson.
We are excited about bringing together our partners and friends in celebration of our 26th anniversary and our collective efforts to provide housing and support to individuals and families in need. We hope you will join us in the celebration!
Thank You to Everyone Who Attended Our Event
March 6, 2018 By Nehemiah Manager
Participants in the evening will enjoy a seated dinner as they benefit from an inspirational address from Robert Lupton, community developer and author of the well-known book, Toxic Charity. In addition to celebrating a quarter century of building affordable homes we will also recognize a valuable leader and champion for our cause, Tom Faulkner. Tom will be retiring from Nehemiah CRC after 25 years of service. He has left an indelible mark on our state as he has led the challenge for Nehemiah and strengthened community after community by making affordable housing a reality for many.
We are excited about bringing together our partners and friends in celebration of our 25th anniversary, the impactful career of Tom Faulkner and our collective efforts to provide housing and
supports to individuals and families in need. We hope you will join us in the celebration!
Our Featured Speaker
Bob Lupton has invested the past 46 years in inner-city Atlanta. He left a budding business career to work with delinquent urban youth. Bob and his family sold their suburban home and moved into the inner-city where they have lived and served as neighbors among those in need. His life's work has been the rebuilding of urban neighborhoods where families can flourish and children can grow into healthy adults.
Bob is a community developer, an entrepreneur who brings together communities of resource with communities of need. Through FCS Urban Ministries – a non-profit organization which he founded – he has developed three mixed-income subdivisions, organized two multi-racial congregations, started a number of businesses, created housing for hundreds of families, and initiated a wide range of human services in his community. He is the author of six books, including the bestselling Toxic Charity. Bob has a PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia.
Greenville looks for affordable housing solutions
October 19, 2015 By Nehemiah CRC
The city of Greenville is moving forward with hiring a consultant to solve the city's concerns over affordable housing, with an eye toward having plans by the middle of next summer. Read more…
Think of our neighbors, not just ourselves
Anyone who has read Robert Lupton's little book "Return Flight" knows that gentrification of a lower-income neighborhood can have positive benefits so long as there is enough vacant land to accommodate these new wealthier neighbors. With them can come new job opportunities, more diversity of shopping opportunities, more vocal support for quality schools, and the list goes on.
However, the downside, which was recently highlighted in a newspaper article on affordable housing, is that a neighborhood's property values typically appreciate as demand for land and housing increases, thereby increasing the value of the asset of interest. Families in some of our lower-income neighborhoods heretofore stuck with property that was slowly decreasing in value suddenly see an uptick and sell out, eventually leaving the neighborhood with few lower income households. Members of these lower-income households typically make up the bulk of the work force in an urban community.
It is encouraging that the city of Greenville is contemplating taking major steps to develop strategies to preserve affordable, workforce housing within the city's limits to avoid this loss of workforce housing. Presently a number of nonprofit organizations are partnering with the city to implement a federally funded Neighborhood Initiative Program. The nonprofit partners are identifying abandoned homes in a number of the city's target neighborhoods and making offers.
In recognition of the need to preserve workforce housing, the city is requiring that a 50-year deed restriction be placed on all homes purchased under the Neighborhood Initiatives Program. This is an admirable and visionary step to preserve affordable workforce housing within the city limits. This program also offers enlightened property owners the opportunity to sell their properties not only to receive a reasonable payment, but also to contribute to the long term availability of land in the City for building more affordable workforce housing here.
However, even 50-year deed restrictions are obviously not a permanent answer to what inevitably will become increasingly a crisis in Greenville's future. Just as we need enlightened property owners to think about selling their property for the good of the community and not just for what they can get for their property, we also need an enlightened workforce.
The stereotypical view — that purchase of a single family home will result in dramatic increases in home's valuation leading to greatly increased wealth on sale of the home — remains unfortunately the core dream of a new homeowner. This dream is presently a foundational tenet of our society. It is an unrealistic dream that is presently undermining workforce housing across the country in urban markets experiencing rapidly increasing demand for housing.
There are solutions to these challenges, but they require a transformative shift in our housing priorities. In 2011, our South Carolina Legislature passed legislation that permits creation of nonprofit community land trusts.
In a land trust model, the nonprofit purchases land for housing development and then provides a long-term ground lease to the workforce household interested in building a home on the property. The household only pays property tax for the structure, not the land. The nonprofit places a deed restriction on the home such that the home cannot appreciate in value more than a set formula geared to project the growth of wages for the workforce in that community. When the family is ready to sell the home, only another income-qualified workforce family can purchase the home and the non-profit assists the seller in locating that purchaser.
The result of a properly developed community land trust model is that each home built on land owned by the trust remains affordable to future workforce families in perpetuity.
This land trust solution is only one of a number of initiatives that a community can take to solve its workforce housing affordability problems. All such solutions require workforce families to place their financial security and the well being of workforce families that follow them as their first priority. Preservation of workforce neighborhoods and pride in community must take priority over unrealistic dreams of inevitable financial enrichment.
Years ago, Mayor Knox White ran on a platform of Neighborhoods First. Never has such a vision been more important to Greenville's future success as a community. Placing neighborhoods first reminds us all to act in the best interest of our neighbors, not just ourselves.
Tom Faulkner has been a community development consultant since 1987. He served as the first president of Greenville Housing Futures, Inc. and Renewal and Development Administrator of the city of Greenville. He can be reached at tomfaulkner@kcommunities.org.
Project targets neighborhood blight
September 3, 2015 By Nehemiah CRC
In the next 10 days or so, Anderson County officials will send certified letters to dozens of people who own dilapidated, burned, uninhabitable houses. And they will ask those owners if they are willing to sell.
In the next 10 days or so, Anderson County officials will send certified letters to dozens of
people who own dilapidated, burned, uninhabitable houses.Read More
Arise And Build In Your Community!
June 25, 2015 By Katie Owens
Make a Donation to Nehemiah Community Revitalization Corporation
Nehemiah welcomes individual or organizational initiatives tied to a particular idea for a project. Nehemiah hopes that those interested will take matters into their own hands and contribute both their financial resources and their ideas to revitilize the neighborhoods and people of South Carolina. As an interfaith non-profit corporation, Nehemiah is particularly interested in encouraging churches and other religious institutions to provide leadership by becoming catalysts to revitalize the neighborhoods surrounding their institutions. Those interested in contributions to this Partnership for Neighborhoods can send their donations and their comments or advice to:
Attn: Partnership for Neighborhoods
Your contributions are tax deductible to the full extent under the law. Nehemiah's EIN for tax purposes is 57-0980253. Nehemiah also welcomes the opportunity to help you with neighborhood revitilization objectives. Nehemiah continues to have a particular interest in special needs populations. Feel free to share your ideas and comments.
Read about the revitalization of Draymont community in Spartanburg County.
Seeking input regarding design, location, amenities, and development/management of a proposed new affordable housing development. Click for more info…
Input Needed NELSON COVE Spartanburg, SC POTENTIAL NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT COMING SOON! Nehemiah Community Revitalization Corporation is seeking input regarding design, location, … [Read More...]
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https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/5-confirmed-measles-cases-in-Illinois-CDC-says-13679785.php
5 confirmed measles cases in Illinois, CDC says
Breanna Booker, bre.booker@edwpub.net
Published 2:20 pm CDT, Monday, March 11, 2019
The Illinois Department of Public Health confirms there have been five cases of measles in Illinois so far this year.
Since Jan. 1, 2019, there have been 206 reported cases of measles in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreaks have been confirmed in 11 states.
According to a report depicted in a table on the CDC website, the U.S. has seen more cases in the last two months than in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, and has already seen over half the amount of cases reported in all of 2018.
According to the CDC, "Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000." This means there were no measles cases for over 12 months.
"Symptoms of measles include a rash that starts on the face and neck and then spreads, a high fever, runny nose, cough, and red, watery eyes," according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The "safe and effective" MMR vaccine has been available in the U.S. since 1968 and is 97 percent effective with two doses, according to the CDC.
"We concur with experts — such as the CDC — and recommend vaccinations. The risks of skipping your child's shots far outweigh any unproven risk of receiving them," marketing and PR director at Anderson Hospital, Natalie Head, said.
According to the World Health Organization, Measles is very contagious and spreads "by airborne respiratory droplets." The virus can be treated, but is still a leading cause of death among children in developing countries.
Reach reporter Bre Booker at bre.booker@edwpub.net or 618-656-4700 ext. 25