Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale' Set

Darryl Willis as Leontes and Carley George as Hermione (c)Jacek Gancarz

(Press Release) JUPITER, Fla. (June 12, 2025) The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival (PBSF) celebrates its 35th Anniversary of Shakespeare by the Sea with a magical, “snowy” production of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The free, outdoor annual tradition is presented in partnership with Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation on July 10 – 13 and July 17 – 20 at the Seabreeze Amphitheatre in Carlin Park, Jupiter. This year’s event includes a Town of Jupiter Centennial Night on July 12 with a free t-shirt giveaway for the first 100 attendees. The gates open at 6:30 p.m. with pre-show entertainment from Devon “The Sonnet Man” Glover on July 10 - 13.  Performances start at 8 p.m. each evening. A donation of $5 per person is suggested. The production is sponsored by Gary & Katherine Parr. 

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The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival production of The Winter’s Tale is adapted and directed by PBSF Artistic Director, Trent Stephens. One of the Bard’s later works, The Winter’s Tale is a dark drama, comedy and romance in one play. Unusually spanning 16 years in the characters’ lives, the first half is dark and dramatic: King Leontes suspects his pregnant wife Hermione has been unfaithful with his best friend Polixenes. His jealousy leads to a storm of devastating loss, including the disappearance of his newborn daughter. After the baby girl is born, she ends up banished and adopted by a shepherd who names her Perdita. The second half of the play is filled with comedy, romance and magic that sees the families reunited, and Perdita and Polixenes' son, Florizel, married. A “sad tale for the wintertime” gives way to the springtime spirit of renewal, and reveals the transformative power of faithfulness, love and time.
 
“The Winter’s Tale is not about wintertime as much as it is about the improbable,” says Stephens. “A ‘winter’s tale’ is an unlikely and fantastical story that is told around the fire to entertain on a long, cold winter’s night. While this custom is foreign to us, particularly here in these more tropical climes, the love of story is universal. We want to transport our audience into a romantic world where anything is possible; where families are reunited, relationships are healed, and the dead can be raised to life.”
 
This year’s cast includes Company veteran Darryl Willis as Leontes (As You Like It, PBSF and Art, West Boca Theatre Company); Carley George as Hermione (The Fantasticks, Lighthouse Theater Company); Greta Von Unruh as Paulina (Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, PBSF); Max Fonrose as Polixenes (PBSF debut); Hannah Haley as Perdita (Death of a Salesman, Palm Beach Dramaworks, The Play that Goes Wrong, Loxen Entertainment); Matthew Paszkiet as Camillo (The Fantasticks, Lighthouse Theater Company, King Lear, PBSF); Kyler O’Brien as Antigonus (Measure for Measure, King Lear, PBSF); Tristen Hooks as Florizel (As You Like It, PBSF); Lee Ritter as Autolycus (As You Like It and King Lear, PBSF); Casey McNamara as Clown (Measure for Measure, King Lear PBSF); Kelly Hussey as Cleomenes (King Lear, Antony & Cleopatra, PBSF); Todd Masterson as the Old Shepherd, and Keira Harper as Dion and swing.  Technical direction, lighting, special effects and stage design by Daniel Gordon. Sound design by Chris Bell. Musical direction by Lisa Stephens and costumes by Penny Williams.

The 35th Anniversary Shakespeare by the Sea production of The Winter’s Tale takes place July 10- 13 and 17 – 20 at the Seabreeze Amphitheater in Carlin Park, located at 750 South, Florida A1A, Jupiter, FL 33477. Performances start at 8 p.m. and run until 10 p.m. with a 15-minute intermission. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., with pre-show entertainment on July 10 – 13 from Devon “The Sonnet Man” Glover. Visitors are invited to bring a beach chair, blanket, and picnic basket, or enjoy on-site concessions opening week from Little Moir’s Food Shack. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5 per person.

Shakespeare by the Sea XXXV is a co-production of the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival and Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation, and sponsored by Gary & Katherine Parr. Grant funding is provided by Publix Supermarket Charities and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County through the Board of County Commissioners. Additional sponsors include Frank Cona and Lisa Calberg and an anonymous donor.  In-kind sponsors include The Benjamin School, Florida Weekly and Palm Beach Atlantic University. Private and corporate sponsorships are still available. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please email [email protected].