Review: Shakespeare Dallas’ All’s Well That Ends Well

What Was He Thinking?

Shakespeare had a habit of writing himself into a corner and then declaring a "happy ending." Take, for example, (please take it) All's Well That Ends Well. Having written a thorough cad, Bertram, Shakespeare forcibly reunites him with his scorned wife, Helena, and with a straight face declares, "All's well that ends well.'

I don't think so.

I have visions of Helena and Bertram, the rare occasions that he is at home -- not out chasing other women -- having epic battles, culminating with "how do I know that brat is mine?" and slammed doors. Shakespeare glosses over that part, doesn't he? And they didn't have DNA to determine once and for all whose kid it is.

The truth is that Shakespeare was so bad at plotting that he had to borrow most of his from other sources.* He then skewed them around to fit what the patrons of his time (and ours) wanted to see. Of course, that doesn't happen now. Of course not.

(See my blog, Pygmalion and My Fair Lady)

The lovers don't obey their parents? Off with them! A son doesn't care for his mother's new husband? Do him in! A lord is ambitious? Kill him! Drive him insane! A fairy king tricks his queen into making an ass of herself, but she'll forgive him no matter what. A woman twice tricks a man into marriage, but he'll then become a model husband. (Or take care not give her another chance to trick him. One or the other.) Maintain authority and the status quo, no matter what.

Or did Shakespeare have his tongue in his cheek all along?

That being said, the cast of Shakespeare Dallas' performance of All's Well That Ends Well did their best with the script. I thought Brandon J. Walker as Bertram did the best possible job of making Bertram's change of heart plausible. I don't think Bertram actually did have a change of heart, mind you, I've seen too many men fake it. We saw Bertram before when he gave up his priceless family heirloom for the sake of bedding Diana and then promptly forgot all about her, so we may doubt his sincerity this time, but he played it exactly right for Shakespeare's "happy ending."

There are two schools of thought about playing Shakespeare. One emphasizes the "I'm reciting poetry" method; the other tries to deliver the lines naturally. I prefer the second method; Joanna Schellenberg as Helen prefers the first. It is very difficult to create a believable character while reciting, but she almost carried it off.

Laura Yancey did a creditable job of the Countess of Rossillion. She didn't take away from the leads, as she should not, but developed her character quite clearly.

T. A. Taylor as The King of France was better when he was ill in the early scenes than he was in the final scenes. I didn't feel that he was driving Bertram hard enough to break his story.
On the other hand, Mark Oristano as Lafew came forcefully to the foreground in the final scenes. He stayed admirably in the background for most of the play, asserting himself when he needed to, rejecting Bertram as a suitor for his daughter.

I liked Kara Torvik-Smith as the Widow Capilet. She took the place of the actress who usually played the role. Her plotting with Helena was natural.

Shauna McLean made a beautiful and effective Diana. Her speech filled with riddles was a climax of the play.

I didn't get much from Elias Taylorson as Lavatch. Shakespeare's fools are ambiguous at best. In the last three plays I've seen, some of the fools have been effective, some have not. My guess is that there was a lot of stage business associated with them that we are missing. We didn't see it last night.

I can't comment on Anthony L Ramirez as Parolles. I felt he was the victim of some bad directorial choices.

Jessica Wiggers as Reynalda supported the Countess admirably. I am a fan of supporting actors. They come on stage, do their job, and move the story forward, without calling undue attention to themselves, and are often unsung. Wiggers represents these unsung heroes of the stage admirably.

Josh Blann, Ethan Norris, Thiago Martins, Jared Eaton, Austin Tindle, Christopher Hartman, and Ira Patrick Stack filled the multiple roles of lords, soldiers, and retainers, while moving the furniture with aplomb. Sara J. Romersberger moved them about the stage with a dancer's precision. They were a pleasure to watch.

Techie stuff:

Lighting: The lighting design by Tristan Decker only made me notice it once. As you know by now, from me, that is high praise.

Set changes: The set changes were handled well and speedily. The "stage hands" were the actors, who managed to look like they were performing in the play, not changing the set.

Set: There were several things I liked about Clare Floyd DeVries' set. The revolving wagon upcenter was well planned and designed. The different sides made fine backgrounds and using them to carry some furniture was excellent. I didn't like the two archways that flanked the wagon. Sometimes the actors used them as doors; sometimes they entered next to them, making the arches seem superfluous. It would have been better to have solid flats or consistently used the arches as doors. A little miscommunication between the director and set designer I fear.

Props: This is something else that I don't mention unless they call attention to themselves. (Or unless I have too many other things to say.) Props are important, though, so I'll mention that they seemed about right. On the other hand, I did notice.

Costumes: I like costuming that doesn't call attention to itself. In this case, the early-Victorian-but-avoiding-excesses was very effective. Sometimes, especially in Community Theater, the costumes are from a lot of different periods without a plan. This costuming was consistent. The soldier's uniforms were from about the same period as the ladies' dresses. The lord's costumes were also about right. In the first act, I wondered if everyone was going to be in black and white through out the play. Later I wondered if the costumer had gotten a really good deal on a lot of black fabric. The two Florentines dressed more like generic peasants than nobility, even though they asserted that they were of "good family." I noticed that Helen's colors got lighter as the play progressed. I thought that was a statement of sorts. I can see why everyone in the first act was in black given that the Countess was a widow and Helen was in mourning, but I still think it sent the wrong message.

My complaints are minor, though, overall the costuming was a pleasure. The Costume Designer was Jacob A. Climer

Sound: Everyone could be heard clearly. The sound effects were pleasing. No complaints. The Sound Design was by Marco E. Salinas.

Direction: The Director, Rene Moreno, could pick up a few tips from the Directors at Plaza Theater Company and Stolen Shakespeare on using a thrust stage while making the action clear to everyone in the audience. However, I liked the fact that he did everything -- other than make better use of the clown -- he could to get some humor into this comedy. (No, comedy does not mean funny: I've told you that.) There weren't too many opportunities to get the audience to laugh, but he made or made up the most of them.

I can't say whether the choice to give the clowns more business as they probably had in Shakespeare's time or keep them more in the background is the right one. I think that choices like these are what separates the directors from everyone else. It takes real guts to make these choices.

Shakespeare could be cruel to minor characters like Parollers in this play or Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Mostly they deserve their fate, but I emphatically didn't like the bondage aspects of the treatment of Parolles. I think the scene could have been played almost any other way and been effective with out making me feel like saying peuw. Maybe I am exposing myself as not being sufficiently sophisticated to appreciate such wormy apples, ...er aberrations, but I don't.

My daughter and I read through the educational backgrounds of the cast and crew. An impressive collection of college degrees in theater. A great concentration of education and experience, and a worthwhile result.

* Most authorities believe they can find sources for all but two of Shakespeare's plays. I've heard it said that one of these two, The Tempest, was based on some Commedia d'Arte scenarios.