Jennifer Agather and Robert Hunter Bry Photo by Aaron Reese Boseman Photography

Kevin Rolfs has designed another of his rightly much-lauded sets, transforming what could be a difficult space into something that serves as believably as the court of Leontes and a meadow suitable to sheep-shearing and its attendant revels.

Trees and greenery are scattered around the set, and through the use a few pieces of furniture (or lack thereof), these ably suggest both the secluded gardens surrounding kings' palaces and the wide open spaces where their subjects make merry. A round platform dominates stage right. The wooden surface is painted to suggest a clock face, aided in this by slender vertical elements that house light bars.

The lighting design by Trey Brazeal and sound design by Petter Wahlbäck work seamlessly in conjunction with these set elements. As befits a story with time personified, at carefully chosen intervals, a tone sounds and the set elements light in sequence, rendering the passage of time across multiple senses. It's a profoundly moving effect, immersing the characters in the phenomenon and thus reminding them how quickly loss can come and how very long grief and regret can stretch out.

But the show is also filled with beauty and joy. Jessie Gowens outfits the cast in modern dress for the most part, but does so with appropriately bright colors and offbeat flair for the Bohemians to contrast with the more staid cuts and colors for the Sicilian court. The costumes for the ensemble during the sheep-shearing celebration have a fun, decidedly hippy-ish vibe that gels perfectly with Jen Cupani's choreography, which is set to Wahlbäck's wonderful original compositions.

Michael Stejskal does a chillingly wonderful job depicting Leontes' descent into paranoid madness and tyranny. The first act of the play requires whoever takes on the character to ride quite the mental and emotional rollercoaster, and it's gross understatement to say that Stejskal is up to the task. However sharp a turn the text of the play calls for, it is clear that he has dug deep and understands each one. And it is to the credit not just of Stejskal but Askenaizer's direction that the whole emotional journey rings true.

Andrea Uppling's performance as Hermione is equally strong. Uppling is magnetic in the early party scenes, making it no wonder that Polixenes (Raül Alonso, who is beat for beat as strong as his castmates) is, indeed, falling every so slightly in love with her in all her radiant happiness. Again, the skill of the actors and the sure-handed direction make it absolutely clear that the joy the two characters find in one another is wholly innocent and born of their mutual love of Leontes, and yet it is wholly believable that their chemistry might spark the king's jealousy.

Amber Dow is a powerhouse as Paulina, Hermione's friend and advocate. The role is an enviably complex and juicy one, and Dow explores every corner of it. Her ferocious confrontation of Hermione's jailers is deeply satisfying, and the care and compassion she shows for Leontes sixteen years on from his folly is moving.

Kim Pereira (Camillo) and Fred A. Wellisch (Antigonus) both make enormous contributions to the drama of the play's first half. Their performances are critical to why that drama works at all, let alone resonates so deeply. The audience feels the agony of loyal but righteous men whose sudden, bewildering encounters with tyranny casts them into a dark place where they are torn between duty and what they know to be true and right.

Jennifer Agather (Perdita, Mamillius) and Robert Hunter Bry (Florizel) are charming young lovers. Both excel at light comedy but also lend their characters depth that meets the play's culminating moment of reconciliation and renewal.

Sam Nachison (Autolycus), Chuck Munro (Shepherd), and Kyle Quinlivan (Clown) all bring the laughs with ease and, most importantly, make the tonal shift between the play's two halves work seamlessly. Munro and Quinlivan invite the audience into the absurdity with the help of a bear, and Nachison pulls the audience into the absurd deep end as the unsavory and unscrupulous king of the play's romantic half.

The Winter's Tale, presented by Invictus Theatre Company, runs through April 20, 205, at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 West Irving Park Road, Chicago IL. For tickets and information, please visit www.invictustheatreco.com.