According to Director Robert Currier, in his curtain speech preceding the play, in 1895, George Bernard Shaw liked this play very much because it was not a sugar-coated comedy. Shaw viewed this play as being like real life.
To quote Marin Shakespeare dramaturg, Cathleen Sheehan, “All’s Well That Ends Well invites us into a world strikingly different from the earlier, jubiliant, Elizabethan comedies. So different do we find this so called comedy that some resist the label entirely and refer to the play as a “problem play.”
In this play, the characters are riddled with flaws and the ending, despite the title, is not a feel good, fairytale, happy-ever after conclusion. The name of this play expresses the saying, “all’s well that ends well,” which means that problems don’t matter as long as the outcome is good.
This production boasts five outstanding guest artists—Lucas McClure as Lavatch, the wise fool or clown, who also composed some orginal songs for this production; Jessica Powell as the Countess Rousillon, a great lady, as charming as old Lafeu; Scott Coopwood who is a true French gentleman; James Hiser as Parolles, companion to Bertram (Adam Magill), son of the Countess, a soldier with false bravado; and finally, Jack Powell as the King of France in an amazing performance.
In addition to these five Equity actors, we have rounding out the cast, the leading romantic couple, Bertram and Helena (Carla Pauli) who are not romantic and shouldn’t be a couple. Helena is determined in her desire to win Bertram and Bertram is not. To escape Helena, Bertram heads off to war in Italy with Parolles in tow. Helena then sets out to follow him and arrives in Florence in the guise of a pilgrim and lodges with a widow (Heather Cherry) whose daughter Diana (Luisa Frasconi) is the newest object of Bertram’s affection. With Diana’s help, Helena aims to trap Bertram and there in lies the play.
Judging by Abra Berman’s wonderful Costumes and Billie Cox’s Sound Design, it would seem that Robert Currier set his play in the 1940’s.
With an entire cast of skilled Shakespearean actors, Currier stresses the comedy and doesn’t worry about the problem. So we’re all in for an evening of fun!
All’s Well That Ends Well runs August 24 to September 28, 2013. Performances are at Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, 890 Belle Avenue, Dominican University, San Rafael. For tickets, call 415-499-4488 or go online at:
www.marinshakespeare.org\pages\ticketorder.php
Flora Lynn Isaacson
