All's Well That Ends Well
May. 12th, 2006 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidLast night I went to the ASP production of All's Well That Ends Well, at the Central Square Y. Not surprisingly, it was very well done.
The first surprise was how the room was set up, with the audience in rows on the stage and coming back through the room, so the area for the play was at the back of the room, under the balcony. There were fabric panels hung from plastic pipes to set off the stage, which could be moved to make a larger space. It meant that the audience came in through the backstage, which was neat.
The second surprise was how much music there was: there were two dedicated musicians, on piano, violin, drum, and guitar, and many songs by the actors, particulary as scenes changed.
The story is of Helena, daughter of a physician (recently deceased), who loves Bertram, the son of the woman whose ward she is (There should be a word for that. Anyone?). And she manages to win his hand by miraculously healing the king, but he is a reluctant groom who goes off to the wars rather than stay, pledging he will not return unless unmeetable conditions (or so he thinks) are met. And so she goes to win his heart, and finds out just how much of a cad he is. She perseveres, however, and at the end, he flip-flops, accepting her and promising to love her forever.
She is a strong, intelligent, pretty woman, and she continues to seek the one who doesn't appreciate her. It's frustrating, in many ways. And yet, once she'd chosen him, the king forced the marriage, however much both of them might have backed away, him from her base origins, her from his obvious disgust. She could choose to die (in that ever convenient way of plays), yet she does not, arranging layers of subterfuges to get him where she wants him. And yet, an imbalance of affection is not so scarce in real life. Alas.
The cast is very strong, most of them having been in most of ASP's plays (and many others). I particularly liked John Kuntz, who played both Bertram and the clown, which was a much more interesting role (as he played it, anyway), with much earthiness and slapstick.
(This is where there should be more exuberance, for it is quite wonderful and quite funny, but I am tired from mincemeating too late.)
It, too, is running through tomorrow night.
Next year's lineup is Hamlet, A Winter's Tale, and Titus Andronicus.... two I've never seen. Yay!
The first surprise was how the room was set up, with the audience in rows on the stage and coming back through the room, so the area for the play was at the back of the room, under the balcony. There were fabric panels hung from plastic pipes to set off the stage, which could be moved to make a larger space. It meant that the audience came in through the backstage, which was neat.
The second surprise was how much music there was: there were two dedicated musicians, on piano, violin, drum, and guitar, and many songs by the actors, particulary as scenes changed.
The story is of Helena, daughter of a physician (recently deceased), who loves Bertram, the son of the woman whose ward she is (There should be a word for that. Anyone?). And she manages to win his hand by miraculously healing the king, but he is a reluctant groom who goes off to the wars rather than stay, pledging he will not return unless unmeetable conditions (or so he thinks) are met. And so she goes to win his heart, and finds out just how much of a cad he is. She perseveres, however, and at the end, he flip-flops, accepting her and promising to love her forever.
She is a strong, intelligent, pretty woman, and she continues to seek the one who doesn't appreciate her. It's frustrating, in many ways. And yet, once she'd chosen him, the king forced the marriage, however much both of them might have backed away, him from her base origins, her from his obvious disgust. She could choose to die (in that ever convenient way of plays), yet she does not, arranging layers of subterfuges to get him where she wants him. And yet, an imbalance of affection is not so scarce in real life. Alas.
The cast is very strong, most of them having been in most of ASP's plays (and many others). I particularly liked John Kuntz, who played both Bertram and the clown, which was a much more interesting role (as he played it, anyway), with much earthiness and slapstick.
(This is where there should be more exuberance, for it is quite wonderful and quite funny, but I am tired from mincemeating too late.)
It, too, is running through tomorrow night.
Next year's lineup is Hamlet, A Winter's Tale, and Titus Andronicus.... two I've never seen. Yay!