'All's Well' more cynical than comedic
In this publicity image released by The Public Theater, Andre Holland, left, and Reg Rogers are shown in a scene from the play "All's Well That Ends Well," in Manhattan. Credit: AP
For the past two summers, director Daniel Sullivan has worked magic with the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park -- first with an enchanting "Twelfth Night" starring Anne Hathaway, then, last summer, with a devastating production of the more daunting "Merchant of Venice," with Al Pacino. That one also introduced a new rotating repertory system and an experimental summer-resident company.
The rep concept and a new (less starry) company are back this season, in which two arguably more difficult so-called comedies -- "All's Well That Ends Well," directed by Sullivan, and "Measure for Measure," staged by David Esbjornson -- will alternate performances through July 30.
And if I seem to be avoiding discussion of "All's Well," well, so be it. It is hard to pinpoint Sullivan's intentions for this unpleasant play, the one in which the orphaned Helena wins the aristocrat Bertram as her husband as a reward for curing the ailing King of France (the always shrewd and compelling John Cullum). Then she tricks Bertram, who hates her so much he flees to war on their wedding night, by disguising herself as a wench and getting pregnant by him.
Hurray, right?
Sullivan ignores the Public Theater's dubious description of the play as a "fairy tale for grown-ups." But what then? The un-enchanted set is standard-issue double-decker latticework, and, though Jane Greenwood's Edwardian costumes for the updated court are sea-green lovely, Helena skulks around in the dowdiest of mourning black.
As Helena, the capable Annie Parisse is a droopy, clingy, sad-sack of a woman whose adoration (stalking?) of this indifferent fellow is pathetic, even creepy. By making Helena so unappealing, Sullivan might be trying to make Bertram seem less of a cad for rejecting her. But there is zero chemistry between her and her obsession (the bland Andre Holland), which makes us think less of both of them.
Tonya Pinkins makes a kindly, if not entirely believable Countess, mother to Bertram and guardian of Helena. The only spark comes from Reg Rogers, who plays Bertram's pal Parolles with the floppy vanity of an increasingly tiresome toy soldier. And even more than usual, Shakespeare's comic title feels less like romantic resolution than cynical resignation.
WHAT "All's Well That Ends Well"
WHERE Delacorte Theater, Central Park
INFO Free with tickets, 212-539-8750; shakespeareinthepark.org
BOTTOM LINE Drab night, gorgeous park
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