On Boston Common, 'The Winter's Tale' is a well-acted story of forgiveness

Learning to forgive might be one secret to living a great life. That’s not to say that every person you forgive should continue to have access to you if the wrong is egregious. But forgiveness of yourself and others can offer a kind of freedom that can allow you to move on, grow and heal.

In the stories of William Shakespeare, there are usually rageful kings, a disenfranchised woman or two, a child lost or banished, and a feud keeping someone from living and loving the way they might choose. In the end, though, many of Shakespeare’s tales often circle back to the theme of forgiveness. The characters in the plays who don’t learn this lesson and seek revenge at all costs frequently pay with their lives or with the lives of their loved ones.

In Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s “The Winter’s Tale” (through Aug. 4 on Boston Common), King Leontes is one of Shakespeare’s vengeful rulers. He has a great life. In the first act of this modernized retelling, where the characters don smart suits and lovely dresses, the king and his queen Hermione, wonderfully portrayed by Elliot Norton award winners Nael Nacer and Marianna Bassham, have a son and are surrounded by friends and other loved ones. But King Leontes gets it into his head that his pregnant wife has cheated on him with his best friend, King Polixenes — a fantastic Omar Robinson (who recently starred in “Toni Stone”) — after Hermione convinces Polixenes to linger at their home one day. Leontes, now suspicious of the two, does everything in his power to make them pay.

Beneath a misty, darkened sky on Wednesday, July 24, the very talented ensemble (several of whom rendered more than one character) ushered the audience through a series of startling events at a quick clip resulting from King Leontes’ hysteria. Paulina, a powerful, scene-stealing Paula Plum, tries to persuade the stubborn king of his wife’s innocence and begs him to hold his newborn daughter. Unmoved, Leontes threatens murder and exiles the baby girl.

This two-act play with a 16-year time jump isn’t staged as often due to (reportedly) difficult stage direction and is considered a problem play, director Bryn Boice shares in the show’s program. The second half of the production, which finds Leontes and Hermione’s daughter Perdita grown up and in love, feels like another play entirely. However, it’s a lot more fun. Here, Shakespeare provides some comic relief with the Clown (Cleveland Nicoll) and the pick-pocketing trickster Autolycus, a hilarious Ryan Winkles, who at some points employs a lovely British accent. Additionally, the audience gets to know more about the Shephard, a gentle and funny Richard Snee (who starred opposite his wife Plum in 2022’s “Grand Horizons”), who found and raised Perdita.

The merriment begins at a psychedelic sheep-shearing party that Perdita is hosting full of flowers and dancing where true identities are revealed and a plan to right wrongs gets hatched. This epic scene fully illustrated the prowess of the creative team, including set designer James J. Fenton, cool outfits and hair by Rachel Padula-Shufelt and choreography by Victoria Lynn Awkward.

This play, like some of Shakespeare’s others, is full of improbable actions by characters with outsized feelings of anger and revenge and is a little too long. But baked in, there’s always a lesson to learn. This one, with a little more hope and forgiveness than usual and a lot more fun, is no exception.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s “The Winter’s Tale” is free on Boston Common through Aug. 4.