Theatre director Neal Barber wants to accentuate the gay relationships which feature in The Winter's Tale, one of Shakespeare's more minor comedies, when it's staged in Dunedin's Globe Theatre this month. Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale has been performed in theatres around the world since 1611. (photo: The Guardian.co.uk) "Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale has it all: tragedy, comedy, rogues, rulers, spirits, and sexiness," enthuses Barber. "The play deals with questions of sexuality and gender roles; questions which we are still trying to exorcise today," the director says. King Leontes's jealousy sets him off on a course of psychotic rampage; he thinks that his best friend, Polixines, has "touched his wife forbiddenly. Leontes is also torn between the love of his wife and lust for his best friend." Barber says his latest production rescues Shakespeare from the "boring" bin. "Although a genius, his plays are not objects to be worshipped but should be revelled in. Not only is The Winter's Tale fantastically dirty – and dirtily fantastic – but it is, we hope, a chance to see Shakespeare as Shakespeare himself intended: not as an arcane museum-piece." The production's young cast is not afraid to explore the sexual side of the play, and to help in this goal, Barber has played with cross-casting to make some of the less overtly homosexual roles more gay. "The Winter's Tale shows people in gay relationships but without having the need to justify such relationships; these are characters who just so happen to be queer." Shakepeare's The Winter's Tale plays at Dunedin's Globe Theatre, 104 London Street, from 21 – 30 August. For more information and to make a booking, visit the theatre's website, linked below.