by Nate Lee
“All’s Well that Ends Well” is (like Shakespeare by the Sea’s choice of “King John”) one of Shakespeare’s least known and least performed plays. It has been thrust, along with “Measure for Measure,” in the somewhat paradoxical category of problem comedy.
The problem is that, in the view of the audience, the romantic couple, Bertram and Helena, are not romantic and shouldn’t be a couple. Indeed, Helena is so obsessive in her desire to “win” Bertram that her character lies somewhere between obnoxious and stalker. Bertram, meanwhile, is so determined not to be won, that he defies the King of France and could well be executed for murder. Truly, this romantic couple rivals Oedipus for his foremost place on a psychiatrist’s couch.
So, how do you solve the problem of a problem comedy? Director Patrick Vest and the Shakespeare by the Sea company have quite the entertaining solution: don’t worry about the problem, just stress the comedy. Hey, as they say, why do you think they call it “play”? Have fun! Defy the result-oriented title, one of those hyper-rational Proverbs akin to, “the end justifies the means.” Yuck, right?
Shakespeare came upon the scene about the time that commedia dell arte arrived from Italy, with its stock characters. Some of Shakespeare’s great comedic characters were lifts from commedia, including “All’s Well”’s Parolles, the soldier with false bravado (Cylan Brown), and Lavache, the wise fool or clown (Justin Joseph).
Vest and company milk the comedic moments throughout, especially when it comes to these two. Part of Commedia, too, is improvisation. So, from the very beginning, when Parolles enters and talks directly (interactive, if you will) with the audience, we know we’re in for some commedia-licensed fun.
The production keeps its classic roots visually, with beautiful Renaissance costumes and excellent minimal staging, backed by two caravan wagons, which make the “improvised” turns all the more fun. When Bertram (BJ Allman, terrifically coldhearted) heads to the court of the King of France (an able Mick Simons) to escape Helena (Angela Gulner, beautifully zealous), she follows him, and cures the king of his ailments. The King doesn’t just shed his old man’s robe and cane, he pulls off the wig, too, to instantly become a young, vigorous king.
Still to avoid Helena, Bertram heads off to war, with Parolles in tow. Helena still manages to trick him into bedding her, and then frames him for her murder. Just as he is about to witness the wrath of the king, she appears, and he finally agrees to love her. Why? The audience isn’t given much reason. Maybe Bertram just prefers OCD to DOA.
But, again, it doesn’t really matter. We’re more concerned with what happens to Parolles, who is, of course, shown to be the coward, fool, loudmouth and even traitor, at the hands of Lavache. It’s a hilarious torture scene, pulled off by the expertise and confidence of Joseph and Brown, who can be as funny and emotive with a burlap bag on his head as without. In fact, he is even funnier when you can’t see him at all. During a battle (with ninjas, of course), he loses his drum, then goes off to retrieve it. Occasionally, in the next scene, and maybe the next, he pipes up from somewhere in the audience, yelling about his drum.
With an entire cast of skilled Shakespearean actors, there are certainly no problems with Shakespeare by the Sea’s “All’s Well.” To turn about that other great improviser, Hamlet, it’s not so much the play’s the thing, as the thing is… play.
All’s Well that Ends Well (in repertory with King John) is being performed Wednesday through Sunday at various venues through August 10 On Saturday, July 27, we can see it at Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw, in Torrance. Also, Sunday, August 4, at 7 p.m. at Hesse Park, 29301 Hawthorne, in Rancho Palos Verdes; and Saturday, August 10, at 8 p.m., back home in Point Fermin Park, 807 Paseo del Mar, in San Pedro. Admission is free. (310) 217-7596 or go to shakespearebythesea.org.
