All's Well That Ends
"All’s Well That Ends” drops us in the middle of a divorce party, where the hosts spill all the tea ☕️ about their breakup. It’s a promising set up, but, sadly, Kibo Productions’ dark comedy is less than scintillating…
We meet Daria & Radu, former friends/lovers, who are currently celebrating the end of a failed relationship🎉 Like the title, a tongue-in-cheek play on #Shakespeare’s classic, this couple represents the flip side of “happily ever after” —think Beatrice & Benedick in reverse↔️...
Through flashbacks, Daria & Radu trace the downhill path of their eleven-year relationship, sharing every tumultuous detail with the audience/partygoers…
But do they really want us at this party? Pre-show audience small-talk feels contrived. And once the performance gets going, the duo struggles to find authentic moments, making us feel like a potentially complex story is being told by caricatures— frankly, it’s hard to connect to their journey…
On the plus side, the script is rich with details about the characters & the life they (fail to) build together, but somehow this never culminates into a meaningful resolution. We wonder, ‘what does this series of episodes ultimately mean’?🤔...
Likewise, there are costume changes galore, but they feel excessive, an unnecessary element in the storytelling. And we’re gonna sidestep the stagecraft which, with four stage blocks & functional lighting cues, is as Miranda Priestly would say, “thrilling” 💀 (we said it, we’re #meangirls, you can’t sit with us)…
In all, “All’s Well That Ends” breaks our little hearts 💔 because it feels like a potential immersive masterpiece that misses the mark in this iteration…
Honing in on miscommunication & the tragedy of love souring, this script is chock-full of honest & empathetic insights that we’d love to see successfully realised on stage. 2/5⭐
#divorceparty #fringetheatre