Chicago Shakespeare ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL REVIEW

You walk into the theatre to an almost bare stage—only a few empty, wooden chairs populate the large wooden deck, and a royal blue curtain serves as the backdrop. With the lights of the house still on, the Countess of Roussillon (played by the commanding Ora Jones) enters grief-stricken, sits next to an empty chair and weeps. This is the funeral of her late husband. As the lights dim, the sound of bells floods the space, and actors walk through the aisles to the stage, blurring the lines between the audience and performance. Once on stage, the ensemble, all in black, begins performing a visceral movement piece, telling a story of loss even before any words have been spoken. Wide-eyed Helen (played by Alejandra Escalante) touches the young Count Bertram’s heart, comforting him in a grief she knows well; her father has recently passed too. A flower suddenly appears from his jacket pocket, just like a magic trick.

All’s Well that Ends Well is a rarely seen Shakespeare play, driven by themes of social mobility, sexual misconduct, and youth. It tells the story of a physician’s daughter, Helen, who is madly in love with Bertram (the son of the Countess). After curing the King of France from a deadly illness, the King allows her to pick a husband of her choice, and of course, she chooses Bertram. Unwilling to marry so beneath him, and feeling trapped in an unwanted arrangement, the Count flees to Italy to join the war. Until she has his ring and is bearing his child, Bertram stipulates in a letter, they shall not be married.

A Play About Deception and Masculinity

This version of the classic play is filled with dance and music, heightening the emotional peaks and juxtaposing the dual natures of young men at war. Actors dressed in military green invade the stage more than once and perform movement pieces to percussion, which include both moments of intense precision and military sharpness as well as moments of silliness and sensual dance, typical of men at the cusp of adulthood. Bertram’s high-pitched voice, stubbornness, and constant temper tantrums highlight his young age and naivety, aiding this duality as well. In this writer’s opinion, these traits afford him some sympathy.

Dancing is not the only added feature of this performance. Moments of magic prevail as well, seeming, in this writer’s opinion, to inform themes of scheming and deception. As Helen heals the King, his corpse rises in a platform from under the stage, lit by soft candlelight. The physician’s daughter ritualistically hovers her hands over the old King’s body, and light makes its way from his heart to his mouth, before it begins floating upwards and disappears into thin air. The King is healed.

In this play, female characters scheme together to counteract the actions of men, showing, in this writer’s opinion, that female empowerment runs alongside the play’s other themes. The conversation around sexual misconduct becomes clear, not just by Shakespeare’s words, but by the physical comedy of this show, expressed mostly through sexual innuendo. The characters of Lavatch and Parolles demonstrate such, undercutting the play’s dark moments with energetic bursts of comedy.

For all those interested in creative reimaginations of classical texts, All’s Well that Ends Well is the play for you.

When:

Thru May 29^th 2022

Where:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago, Il 60611

Tickets:

$35+

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s website.

Note: Picture This Post reviews are excerpted by Theatre in Chicago.

Photos by Liz Lauren.

CAST:

Patrick Agada: Second Lord
Mark Bedard: Parolles
Christiana Clark: Widow Capilet / Duchess of Florence
William Dick: Lafeu
Alejandra Escalante: Helen
Francis Guinan: King of France
Casey Hoekstra: First Lord
Dante Jemmott: Bertram
Joseph Aaron Johnson: Rinaldo / Soldier Lord
Ora Jones: Countess of Rossillion
Jeff Kurysz: First Soldier / Soldier Lord
Emma Ladji: Diana
Pablo David Laucerica: King’s Attendant / Soldier Lord
Elizabeth Ledo: Lavatch
Tanya Thai McBride: Mariana
Jeannie Affelder: Understudy
Caron Buinis: Understudy
Kevin Gudahl: Understudy
Christopher Hainsworth: Understudy
Tae-nyun Kim: Understudy
Gavin Mueller: Understudy
Jacob Mundell: Understudy
Hilary Schwartz: Understudy

CREATIVE TEAM:

Shana Cooper: Director
Andrew Boyce: Scenic Designer
Raquel Barreto: Costume Designer
Adam Honoré: Lighting Designer
Paul James Prendergast: Sound/Composition
Richard Jarvie: Hair & Make Up Designer
Stephanie Martinez: Movement Designer
DENDY: Magic Designer
Gregory Linington: Verse Coach
Mallory Metoxen: Assistant Director
Noelle Kayser: Assistant to the Movement Designer
Sarah Scanlon: Intimacy Director
Bob Mason: Casting
Katrina Herrmann: Stage Manager
Kate Ocker: Assistant Stage Manager
Katie Lupica, Manna-Symone Middlebrooks: Assistants to the Director

About the Author: Madalena Martins

Madalena is a young writer and actress based in Chicago. She was born and raised in Lisbon (Portugal- the home of soccer and custard tarts) then moved to Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and finally made it to the United States! Her international background resulted in a deep love for languages, cultures, travelling, and food. She is also a lover of theatre, cinema, music, and literature. In her free time, she enjoys writing, going to the beach, doing improv comedy and sketches with friends, talking to strangers, and suffocating her dog with love.

Besides this, she is interested in climate activism, feminism, and queer studies, and is interested in the intersections between these fields.