FOLLOWING the critical success earlier in the year with their production of King Lear, the acclaimed Yorkshire theatre company Northern Broadsides will return to the works of Shakespeare this Autumn with a daringly theatrical and heartbreakingly human new staging of his tale of reconciliation, love and forgiveness – 'The Winter’s Tale'.

Directed and featuring Northern Broadsides’ Resident Director Conrad Nelson and created in partnership with Harrogate Theatre, the production will be at the Everyman, Cheltenham from Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 October.

The play opens on New Year’s Eve in 1999; the Millennium bells ring out with hope for the new century. But a lower, ominous note underscores these festivities and the characters are quickly plunged into darkness.

Seized by sudden, irrational jealousy King Leontes falsely accuses his pregnant Queen of infidelity with his closest friend, who flees without answering the accusation. Leontes then proclaims his newborn daughter a bastard and condemns the innocent to death. But the child, Perdita, survives.

What follows is a beautiful and beguiling love story where the cold hand of winter gives way to the brightness and vibrancy of spring.

This will be the first time in the company’s 23 years old history that it has staged The Winter’s Tale.

Northern Broadsides is a unique theatre company with a true Northern voice. Their work is characterised by a high degree of theatrical inventiveness and robust performances from a large ensemble cast of multi-talented and charismatic northern actors who all perform in their natural voices. For the past 23 years, they have delighted audiences here and abroad with a growing classic repertoire which has won them many awards and a loyal following worldwide.

For more info visit www.northern-broadsides.co.uk & www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk Tickets for The Winter’s Tale' are priced at £13 - £28 (concessions available) and can be purchased at the Box Office on 01242 572573 or online at www.everymantheatre.org.uk