all's well that ends well
(an unlikely bromance between two men on the run from a woman who's kinda intimidating).
adapted from the play by william shakespeare // directed by ted witzel // presented by canadian stage at high park summer 2016
“you love. you love. you love and it hurts. you love and you lie. you love and your body aches trying to contain it. —— you love and you hope for happy endings but it’s hard to see it ending well when the first scene’s at a funeral.”
upon the death of his father, count bertram goes to paris to attend to the ailing king of france, leaving behind his mother and helen: his mother's young ward that has fallen secretly, and obsessively, in love with him. determined to win bertram’s affections, helen conjures up a plan to follow him to paris, bearing a prescription that might hold a cure for the king.
helen makes a dangerous wager: if the king dies, she will be put to death, but if he lives, she may choose a husband from the court. the king is cured and helen claims bertram as her reward, much to protest of the young count. bertram is ordered to marry helen, but bolts to the italian warfront immediately following the ceremony — enlisting the help of cowardly wingman parolles. in a letter to helen, bertram sets her a number of seemingly impossible tasks to complete before he will give in to marriage.
adapted & directed by ted witzel. set by teresa przybylski. costumes by shawn kerwin. lights by oz weaver. sound by lyon smith. assistant directed by lauren gillis. stage managed by sandy plunkett & laura baxter. performed by kaleb alexander, frank cox-o'connell, raechel fisher, nicky guadagni, marvin ishmael, mina james, rachel jones, qasim khan, kyle mcwatters, alon nashman, & rose tuong.
REVIEWS:
high park production gives satirical bite // globe and mail
5 things you need to know about all's well in high park // NOW MAGAZINE
all's well that ends well // mooneyontheatre
all's well that ends well? totally! // NOW MAGAZINE