Over the years Salt Lake City has developed into a fairly lively theatre community. There are several established companies in town, both large and small, and new companies seem to be popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain. While there is always room for one more, these newer additions don’t always survive. Their breaking point often lies in their repertoire – too frequently they just don’t have what’s needed to succeed.

That’s something the fledgling Sting & Honey Company doesn’t need to worry about. In a little more than a year, the company has made its mark and staged three productions worthy of any large theatre company in the area.

Last year, Sting & Honey debuted with a knock out production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Last December, it followed up its inaugural offering with This Bird of Dawning Singeth All Night Long, a poignant telling of the Christmas story done in masks. And last week the company unveiled its third production, William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.

Deena Marie Manzanares as Hermione

For Javen Tanner, co-founder and artistic director of Sting & Honey, Shakespeare holds a special place and The Winter’s Tale in particular is dear to him. “It’s one of my favorite [Shakespeare] plays,” he said in an interview with Reichel Recommends. “And ever since I did it at Waterford five years ago I’ve wanted to produce it professionally.” (In addition to his many jobs, Tanner is also the head of the theatre department at Sandy’s Waterford School.)

Of Shakespeare’s plays, The Winter’s Tale is among the handful that isn’t staged too frequently. “It’s one that isn’t done often,” Tanner said. “It’s not as popular as Macbeth or A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but it’s fairly popular. And what’s interesting is that it becomes a favorite with audiences once they see it.”

That might not be too surprising, actually. Most of Shakespeare’s serious works, of which The Winter’s Tale is one, have a comic element, but here it’s given a much more prominent role. “It’s a tragicomedy with equal parts tragedy and comedy,” Tanner said.

Tanner is a Utah native who studied acting at Brigham Young University before going on to The Old Globe/University of San Diego Professional Actor Training Program. He’ll play two roles in The Winter’s Tale, both of which are firsts for him: Leontes, the wretched king of Sicilia who suffers through his unfounded jealously; and the comic shepherd, who finds Leontes’ abandoned baby daughter, Perdita, and raises her as his own.

The two roles require a 360 degree shift for the actor, which can be tricky, Tanner said.  “At first you really have to find a different body and a different voice. It’s challenging at first, but once you’ve got it, it’s easy.” He added that when he was younger he loved doing dramatic roles, but as he’s gotten older he enjoys portraying both dramatic and comic characters.

Joining him in this production are a group of actors Tanner calls a “a fantastic cast.” Among them are Stephen Williams (Camillo); Roger Dunbar (Antigonus/Autolycus); Kathryn Atwood (Paulina/Time); Daniel Anderson (Archidamus/Clown); Deena Marie Manzanares (Hermione); and Bijan J. Hosseini (Polixenes).

Members of the Ensemble

The ensemble and minor roles are taken up by a large group of drama students from The Waterford School.

The set has been designed by Tanner and, in keeping with the spirit of Shakespeare, is bare bones. “It’s a set that is beautiful to look at but is essentially a blank stage,” he said. “All of [Shakespeare’s] plays were written for a blank stage.”

Shakespeare’s plays still make an impact on modern audiences, but it can be a bit of a challenge for people to understand Elizabethan English. However, Tanner said no one should be dissuaded from attending one of the Bard’s plays because of a perceived language barrier. “There have been informal studies made which say that it takes about 10 minutes for audiences to become acclimated to the language. But once they do they forget they’re listening to 400-year-old verse because they get wrapped up into it.

“But, of course, you need good actors to make it work.”

• PERFORMANCE DETAILS
• What: Sting & Honey Company, The Winter’s Tale
• Venue: Leona Wagner Black Box, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center
• Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19-22 and Sept. 25-29, also 2 p.m. matinees on Sept. 22 and 29
• Tickets: $20
• Phone: 801-355-2787, 888-451-2787
• Web:www.arttix.org
• Running Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission

**(Click here to read Ed Reichel’s review of Sting & Honey’s The Winter’s Tale.)**