The Winter’s Tale | Idaho Shakespeare Festival

Shakespeare returns to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s beautiful outdoor amphitheater with The Winter’s Tale, a moving story of heartbreak, healing, forgiveness, and renewal. Presented in a fresh modern-verse translation by Tracy Young — who also directs — in partnership with Play On Shakespeare, this production brings one of the Bard’s late romances to vivid life.

When the jealous King Leontes’ unfounded suspicions destroy his family, he imprisons Queen Hermione and casts away their newborn daughter. Years later, the lost princess — raised in faraway Bohemia — falls in love with a prince and returns to the kingdom she has never known, bringing hope, renewal, and a chance to restore what was lost. It’s a bittersweet tale that blends tragedy and comedy into a story of loss and redemption.

Set beneath the Idaho sky, an evening at the festival is a summer tradition unlike any other — pack a picnic, enjoy the pre-show marketplace and Meadow Stage mini-concerts (6:30 PM most nights), and settle in for world-class theatre. Whether it’s date night, a family outing, or a night out with friends, it’s a one-of-a-kind experience.