Kroders Guna Zeltiņa
A production has emerged that does not try to hold our attention with long and complex textual passages but relies on modern, lively, and purposeful dialogue that drives the action forward... The Sicilian King Leontes, portrayed by Shakespeare as a man with the power to shape the fate of other people, is “rebooted” in this modern interpretation as Leo Winter, a Silicon Valley tech company magnate, while his friend, the Bohemian King Polixenes, is transformed into Leo’s business partner, Paul Warren. The interpretation is spot-on: today’s greatest power indeed belongs not to politicians or royals but to those who control digital technology businesses and social networks.
How not to get lost in the depths of the internet?...How to combine technological progress with fundamental human values? How to prevent computer games from becoming such a refuge and escape from reality for some users that their dependence on these games increases? ... Jeff James’s successful international debut production, which is a new and stimulating experience for both the Dailes Theatre and the audience, raises these and many other relevant questions, the significance of which we are only beginning to realize.