All's Well indeed at the Globe

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She's now part of the royal French court, treated as a daughter bythe Countess of Rossillion. But Helena happens to be ga-ga for thecountess' son, Bertram, her de facto stepbrother. (Awkward!)
As it turns out, nothing stands in the way of the hell-bent Helena– not disease nor Bertram's dithering. She arranges to curethe ailing king of France, who has become Bertram's guardian, inexchange for her pick of a husband.
Being selected puts the status-minded Bertram in such a snit– “A poor physician's daughter my wife!” hesniffs in disbelief – that he flits clear off to Italy, wherethere's a sporting little war going on. He figures that'll be muchmore fun than the domestic life; what he doesn't figure on isHelena's own guerrilla campaign to land him for good.
Kimberly Parker Green shows a finely tuned blend of strength andsensitivity as Helena; the Globe/USD MFA student (one of a dozenrotating through the three plays of the Shakespeare festival)doesn't get a chance to let loose like some of the more comicalcharacters, but she's easily capable of holding the stage.
Graham Hamilton plays Bertram as less of a swaggering jerk than thehurtful words he spews might suggest. But his modulated performancehelps sell the play's problematic conclusion, when (to scholars'and theatergoers' eternal complaint) Bertram seems to go through awhiplash-inducing shift of sentiment.
And anyway, Bertram's buddy Parolles has a way of sucking up allthe swagger and jerkiness in the room (and sucking up, period– he's like an Elizabethan Eddie Haskell around the people inthe royal power suits).
Bruce Turk is so quirkily funny as this yellow-bellied braggartthat he sometimes threatens to shove the show off its axis. He hasa kind of Kevin Kline vibe, or maybe shades of Errol Flynn, and away of preening that would embarrass a peacock. (He even looks alittle like one, in his sash and befeathered hat and epaulets andsaddle shoes, among keen-eyed costumer Linda Cho's more vividcreations.)
Eric Hoffmann proves just about his match as the countess' clownishservant Lavatch, who is prone to vulgar proclamations at the dropof a skirt. He's about the only one remotely able to fluster theresolute countess, played with an appealing steeliness by longtimeGlobe associate artist Kandis Chappell.
Tresnjak and set designer Ralph Funicello inject some winsome funin the play's latter half, when the action moves to Italy; on aplatform high above the stage, they unveil a massive statue ofMichelangelo's David, his man-parts prominently displayed astourists sit primly at cafe tables below.
The Italy sections are much looser and spirited than the Frenchdrawing-room scenes, but the tension between the two helps propelthe play.
Throughout, there's a sense of people peering into their own soulswith piercing, sometimes uncomfortable honesty. Helena knows she'llhave to make up in guile what she lacks in class standing; Lavatchis upfront about wanting to marry mostly to ratify his sex life;Parolles has a heart-to-heart with himself about his lily liverthat startles his eavesdropping comrades.
“Is it possible that he should know what he is and yet bewhat he is?” they say, amazed he can remain such aself-acknowledged coward.
In the key set piece, Helena gins up an implausible plot forbagging Bertram permanently, one that involves tricking him intosleeping with her under the ruse that it's actually the maidenDiana (played by sassy and sly Vivia Font).
It's all more than a little cruel and manipulative –Machiavelli would've dug these doings in Italy.
But in dramatic terms, Tresnjak's production does end well.Shakespeare concluded the play with a not-so-ringing speech by theking, shortly after Bertram's last-second conversion to Helena-ism.
Tresnjak has the couple silently apprise each other – turningtheir backs for a moment, seeming about to exit separately, thenmounting the steps to affirm their bliss with a kiss. As God– and David – is their witness.
Director: Darko Tresnjak. Sets: Ralph Funicello. Lighting: York Kennedy. Costumes: Linda Cho. Sound, original music: Christopher R. Walker. Key cast: Kimberly Parker Green, Graham Hamilton, Kandis Chappell, James R.Winker, Bruce Turk, Charles Janasz, Vivia Font, Eric Hoffmann,Jonathan McMurtry.
James Hebert: (619) 293-2040; jim.hebert@uniontrib.com