All begins well, too, in Alabama Shakespeare Festival's fairy tale-magical version of Shakespeare's on-the-edge comedy, All's Well That Ends Well. Opening on Peter Hicks' classic tiered Shakespearian set with staircase, Rossillion spills forth characters comic, but somewhat darkly so. Carole Monferdini's dignified Countess of Rossillion exhibits her concern for son Bertram who's about to leave home, her ward Helena, and her sick King. Daughter of a deceased magician-healer, Kelley Curran swoons in proclaming love for Bertram but soon stands firm in her determination to wed him despite their class differences.
While rank-conscious Bertram is full of himself, attractive Jordan Coughtry plays him as so respectful to his mother, so youthfully eager for his first adventure away from home, and so apt to be deceived by a false friend, that his selfish ways have a bit of balance. Despite the seemingly impossible terms he gives before he will accept Helena as wife, he is the first Bertram I've seen a better side of, one who might become worth Helena. And there's that intriguing kiss he gives her as he leaves...
Flashing, flailing sword while bragging, Matt D'Amico's Paroles immediately characterizes Bertrand's untrustworthy companion as a "Miles Gloriosus" type, capable of devilish perversity. Paul Hopper's skipping old court figure Lafew can't insult him enough. Paroles' eventual literal as well as symbolic unmasking makes a most memorable scene.
As King of France, Rodney Clark changes from ailing, crawling and disarrayed to the neat, gold-crowned, purple-robed figure who stands tall and regal to grant his healer her choice of husband. What a situation for the clown in fool's cap, Lavatch, to comment on! (Too bad Anthony Cochrane projects him as silly so much more than sombre, and with a strange accent.)
Thanks to director Geoffrey Sherman's talent for making fairy tales plausible (as he did two years ago with Cymbeline), Helena's appearance where Bertram has found service in Florence (while she's on a supposed pilgrimage to Spain!) seems not too unusual. Rather, her meeting the object of Bertram's infatuation may just be fate. (Suitably, Lauren Sowa is enticing as the lady in question and assured daughter of Celia Howard's fine Widow Capilet.)
Working out Bertram's demands and Helena's determined aims goes smoothly, with various exchanges of rings actually uncomplicating matters. Thus, back in Rossillion, for kings and courtiers and clown and commoner (who's not so common), the play's title proves truly expressive.
