Vallejo Shakespeare in the Park

Synopsis

 

When King Leontes of Sicilia does not want his best friend the King of Bohemia, Polixenes, to go home after his six-month visit he asks his wife, Queen Hermione to convince King Polixenes to stay a little longer. After Hermione persuades Polixenes to stay, Leontes becomes insanely jealous accusing his wife of infidelity and is convinced the child she carries is not his, defying the Oracle of Apollo who has cleared her of any wrong-doing. King Leontes imprisons his wife and banishes his new born daughter to death, which kills Hermione, followed by his young son Mamillius, who also dies as a result.

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By luck or intervention by the Gods, the babe, Perdita, is rescued by a local Shepherd and his son, and they raise her as the Shepherd's adopted daughter.

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Sixteen years pass.

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The son of Polixenes, Prince Florizel, and the Sheperdess Perdita have fallen in love but fear their union will not be accepted due to Perdita's low-born status. Through various hi-jinks and the unknowing aid of the thief Autolycus, they make their escape to Sicilia where King Leontes has spent the past 16 years mourning and repenting the loss of his family. There, it is discovered that Perdita is his daughter and lost princess, Hermione his Queen is not dead, the royal family is reunited.