Hey, I offered you an out! Don't blame me if you chose not to take it? *grin*

I completely agree that the end of The Winter's Tale is quite silly. One of several reasons why I have not been such a big fan of that play. However, the RSC production that I saw in March was astounding and raised it several notches on my scale.

As for Merchant... well, I would be willing to give it another shot and see a different production at some point. Thus far, though, it really isn't one of my favourites.