Boston stars will shine on the Common this summer in ‘The Winter’s Tale’

This summer’s Free Shakespeare on the Common production celebrates some of Boston’s best acting talent. Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s 27th annual production, “The Winter’s Tale,” will feature Marianna Bassham, Nael Nacer, Omar Robinson, Paula Plum, Richard Snee, Tony Estrella, Robert Walsh, and Ryan Winkles in the principal roles.

Elliot Norton Award-winning director and CSC Associate Artistic Director Bryn Boice will direct Shakespeare’s tragedy, which traces the fallout after King Leontes of Sicily (Nacer, fresh off his Broadway run in “A Prayer for the French Republic”) falsely accuses his wife, Hermione (Bassham, directing Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s upcoming “Romeo and Juliet”), of infidelity with his childhood friend, the King of Bohemia (Robinson, most recently seen in “King Hedley II”). When his wife dies of heartbreak, Leontes banishes his newborn daughter, who grows up in Bohemia under the care of a shepherd. Sixteen years pass before old wounds can heal, betrayals can be forgiven, and new alliances forged.