By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBRqe-THfjA
Available until: Indefinitely
All’s Well That Ends Well is a problem play. There is
one incident in the play which I don’t like at all and which I will talk about
in more detail later, but this was a captivating performance by some brilliant
performers.
Even in a Zoom production, there was a lot to see – much of
it on the actors’ heads. There were some incredible hats in this production,
all of them owned, created or adapted by the actors themselves. I wasn’t sure
I’d ever see a finer array of hats than on Aashiq’s hatstand, but I think All’s
Well That Ends Well has got him beat. (For now. I’m sure he’s scouring the
internet as I type.)
It isn’t just about the hats. The characters are no less vivid. Danann McAleer, who plays Parolles, just about sneaks in to win Best Costume Design, but it’s his exceptional acting that really makes his performance special. The way he speaks, the way he moves, his facial expressions are all brilliant, but it isn’t just an ‘on the surface’ performance that’s played entirely for laughs – Parolles is a real and fascinatingly foppish human being.
But it’s not just him. All the actors make their characters
human, from the outstanding Sara Hymes as Helena to the three members of the
excellent ensemble. I have reservations about Helena, but it’s impossible not
to be won over, at least to some extent, by Sara’s charming, intelligent and sincere
performance. I don’t have the same moral views as she does, but one thing I can
say is that she isn’t trying to hurt anyone. She wants Bertram to do his duty
as a husband. She doesn’t go about this in the right way, but I do feel her
motives were pure. I also love the onscreen friendship between Helena and
Michelle Kelly’s vibrant Diana.
Yet Helena does fail to follow the play’s best-known quote.
She loves many, if not all; she sensibly trusts a few… but she does wrong to
Bertram. He believes he is sleeping with Diana, but it is Helena he sleeps
with, without his knowledge and, by extension, his consent. It could even be
argued that Bertram refuses to sleep with Helena, yet this is what ends up
happening. Shakespeare distracts us with some beautiful language and delightful
characters, and I personally don’t find it as hard-hitting as Measure for
Measure, which attacks you morally and emotionally from all angles, but for
me, what Helena and Diana do is wrong.
There were not one but two excellent Bertrams. James Dawoud,
the scheduled Bertram, does most of the work and he sets up the character of
Bertram as a silly twit rather than an evil man. While he definitely behaves
badly, I couldn’t help but sympathise with his situation – and not just in
terms of in the previous paragraph. Arranged marriages were common and I
imagine it would have occurred to Bertram that a marriage might very well be
arranged for him at some point, but he’d probably expected some sort of
material gain from the arrangement. But Bertram finds himself married to someone
who is decidedly his social inferior – and having grown up with her, he feels
absolutely certain he could never love her. It’s a horrible situation to be in
and I think James makes him into a sympathetic character, if a far from
admirable one.
The second Bertram is swing Dan Blick, who makes two brief
appearances as Bertram. Swings know they might have to play any role at any
point, but although an appearance from a swing is not uncommon, I don’t
remember seeing a swing taking over a leading role in key scenes before (though
perhaps it was so seamless, I didn’t realise). Dan not only performs Bertram’s
line well, he continued with the scene as though he was James, which meant
James was able to pick up the role quite naturally when he was back online.
Many people wonder what Helena sees in Bertram and it’s a
fair question, but for me, the answer is actually very simple. When we fall in
love with someone, whether they’re a good person doesn’t really come into it. Love
isn’t something we choose or assess. It just happens. A lot of people make very
bad choices and some people know they’ve at least made a questionable choice,
but does that stop them? Very often, no! Bertram leaves much to be desired as a
husband, but Helena has been told to choose someone and would you choose a
sensible person you didn’t love over someone you could imagine sharing your
life (and your bed) with?
As always, it’s a brilliantly-assembled and very talented cast.
Bennett Pologe is excellent at showing the deterioration in the King of
France’s health and became a formidable figure on recovery. Lucy Aley-Parker is
a powerfully regal Countess, Christopher Paddon offers wonderful
characterisation as Lafew (he has a great scene with Danann McAleer’s Parolles,
whom I’ve already raved over) and he and the very musical Jeff King’s Lavatch
makes a strong claim in favour of this play’s inclusion in the list of
Shakespeare’s comedies.
All’s Well That Ends Well is a problem play – but it
was much less of a problem than I was expecting
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