Every year the Fringe plays home to dozens of adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. Some of these are completely off the wall and awful, while others are well thought out variations on the Bard’s original themes. Ariel Productions’ All’s Well That Ends Well is indeed an interesting version of the famous comedy but ultimately falls short of brilliance.
Admittedly this isn’t completely the company’s fault, as the space they have been allocated at the Roxy Demarco Art House is horrible. It might work for a stand up but for a theatre production that involves a three-piece band it is just too small and cramped. The troupe do their best to work with what they’ve got and do a pretty could job at extending the space.
Set in the Fifties, Ariel’s production interlaces Shakespeare’s stanzas with pop hits from the decade (though their choice does slip into the early Sixties as well) at opportune moments to help drive it along. These inclusions, though often cheesy, are rarely contrived and do add another interesting dimension to this little romp. Unfortunately they aren’t expertly performed, by the male members of the cast at any rate, and this does detract from their inclusion.
All in all, this is an intriguing version of the Bard’s work and it could be really good with a little spit and polish (and singing lessons) but at the moment it is simply an interesting, entertaining piece of theatre.
3/5
Richard Biggs
