The Winter's Tale

Tickets are free (two per person) and may be picked up only on the day of the performance after 1pm at the Delacorte Theater. A limited number of tickets are also distributed via online lottery at publictheater.org, and a pair of reserved "summer supporter" seats can be acquired for a donation of $350; see site for details. Director Michael Greif turns Shakespeare's enchanting, tear-jerking romance into a tedious hash of stiff acting and strained bawdy humor. Ruben Santiago-Hudson is a phlegmatic blank as the jealous Sicilian king Leontes, who suspects his pregnant wife, Hermione (Linda Emond), is carrying the child of his best friend (a vivid Jesse L. Martin). Many of the same actors who blaze forth in Merchant fizzle out here.—David Cote