All’s Well That Ends Well (Bard on the Beach Performance)

Credit: Ginalan

I have always been a fan of theatre (as my readers will know – I’ve given away A LOT of tickets on my site for theatrical performances, thanks to the wonderful sponsors that have provided me with opportunities to reward my readers). My main aim is to showcase the local talent in Vancouver (and overall, in British Columbia) with all these contest giveaways and with my reviews of theatre plays. This year, Bard on the Beach has been kind enough to sponsor two contests (one for Othello, for which I’ll be drawing a winner this afternoon, and one for Comedy of Errors).

I knew that JT had wanted to go to Bard on the Beach with me and attend the lecture series as well as do the picnic (i.e. the whole 9 yards), so I met him at his place around 3pm and we took the Aqua Bus towards the Maritime Museum. We went for a nice walk around Kitsilano Beach and then attended the lecture series. I’ll describe the series in more detail in a subsequent post, but suffice it to say that it was an excellent event.

We then picked up our picnics by Emelle, the official caterer of Bard (JT purchased an “All’s Well” picnic, the heartiest/biggest meal of them all). While I liked the food, I was kind of taken aback by the cold picnic in the format they did it (cold rice and cold chicken). For the next time we go there, we’re going to order sandwiches (The Comedy picnic).

After dinner we headed to the stage where All’s Well that Ends Well would take place. Admittedly, I am a Shakespeare fan. Admittedly, I have been a theatre actor and fan for many years. But that doesn’t cloud my judgement. This was a PHENOMENAL performance. The gist of the play (a problem play, as English scholars call it) is that Helena, a poor woman from a lower class, cures the King, she wants his son Bertram as husband. He runs away but Helena, wise and street-smart, has devised a plot with Diana (the woman that Bertram has tried to woo) to win him back. There’s a lot of talk about sex

I was delighted with the performance, and all the actors did a phenomenal job (although of note I should indicate the delightful work of the actress who played Diana). This kind of problem play (where there is no exact measure of comedy or drama) also presents fantastic challenges of interpretation. Is Shakespeare being sexist, anti-feminist or is he empowering women?

Overall, I had a delightful evening with JT and I am ever grateful that he invited me along. This is the kind of stuff that friendships are made of. We walked leisurely over the Burrard bridge towards his apartment so that he could drive me back home and as we strolled around, we had a chance to discuss about how great Bard on the Beach is. If you have a chance to attend a performance, I thoroughly recommend it. All’s Well was entirely sold out the evening we saw it, so you may need to check about ticket availability.

And if you want to see Othello, enter my contest for 2 reserved seats tickets for Thursday’s performance!

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Related posts:

1. Bard on the Beach Season 2011 tally and 2012 preview
2. As You Like It (Bard on the Beach) [theatre review]
3. The Marriage of Figaro at Bard on The Beach (win tickets)
4. As You Like It (Bard on the Beach)
5. Othello (Bard on the Beach) [theatre review]