All's Well That Ends Well

In a sense, there has been too much effort and taste lavished on a problem play that is a long way short of Shakespeare's best. The Vermeer interiors and Rembrandt references look a treat, but (as well as being anachronistic by half a century) add weight where there is little in the text. A number of the performances do the same, including Angela Down's magnificent Helena, and Paul Brooke's Lavache, the least clownish, and most accountant-like, clown one could possibly hope to meet.

The problem is that if the play is read as a piece with serious psychological points to make and where motivation may be complex but remains explicable, then it is a hard play to watch. Bertram is a distinctly unappealing husband (Ian Charleson's performance does not find hidden depths) for a strong character such as Helena. The tormenting of Parolles by Bertram and his friends can be dismissed as Elizabethan knockabout, unless the treatment is highly realistic, in which case - as in this production - it looks like torture. The attempted seduction of Diana can be farcical, with the clever comedic logic of the rings and the pregnancy, but here seems simply unpleasant.

Donald Sinden's King is the sort of eye-rolling ham performance that will make sense of this play, but amidst the restraint he falls rather flat.

The stand-out performance is Celia Johnson's Countess, a lovely role brilliantly played. She is not the butt of any jokes, and so can be played tenderly. As with Sinden, the older style of acting suits the material. Sometimes, for example during the Florentine scenes, one aches for Johnson to be on screen.

It's not awful, just very much the wrong style, like filming St Trinians in the style of Cathy Come Home.

A young woman doctors a king, but can't seem to attract the man she loves. So, she makes a deal with the king that if she heals him he will force the man she loves to marry her . . .

I always felt Shakespeare's comedies were best served by the 1970s/1980s Shakespeare plays. "As You Like It," "Twelfth Night," "The Taming of the Shrew," &c. Were all superb.

The "problem plays," usually listed as comedies, have fine casts but none are quite as much fun as Shakespeare's better comedies. Here, a first-rate cast headed by Angela Down, Michael Hordern, Peter Jeffrey and Ian Charleson carry out William Shakespeare's "problem" play about yet another Shakespearean heroine who loves not wisely but too well.

You're unlikely to hear Shakespeare pronounced better. Hordern alone speaks the bard as naturally as if born in the Elizabethan period, and no one sounds like they're in a race to get the words out faster than anyone else..

This production is awfully dark. No doubt the world was mostly dark before Edison's electric light. It reminds me of conductors who specialize in "original instruments." It's interesting for a curiosity, but it's difficult to believe Mozart wouldn't have preferred to hear his music played by the instruments as they have improved for the past 200 years. Turn up the lights!

Chaste, thoughtful Helena loves cold, self-centered Bertram. But when the handsome young man rejects her common birth with aristocratic scorn, unexpected events lead to deception and passion! This dark Shakespeare play is one of the real gems of the BBC collection. Everything is right about the costumes, the actors, the sets, and the lush sensuality of the presentation. Ian Charleson as Bertram is more of a villain than a hero through much of the play, laughing at Helena's tears and running off to play with his soldier friends. Yet when lust strikes him in turn, he is humbled. Pippa Guard is refined and hauntingly beautiful as Diana, the girl from the "wrong side of the tracks" (or the Elizabethan equivalent) whom the haughty Bertram plans to seduce. Diana is not just a cheap tramp. She has a desperate purity. Far from welcoming the noble's advances, she reacts like a frightened deer, or a cornered rabbit, shying from Bertram's cynical touch. Only the shrewd scheming of Helena and her high-born friends (including a king who recognizes her true worth) allows her to capture Bertram's heart at last. Humbled and humiliated by his total downfall, (and Diana's scorn) Bertram falls into forgiving Helena's open arms and proclaims his passionate devotion.

A sexy play, full of romantic longing, arrogant elegance, and sheer unadulterated desire!

'All's Well that Ends All' is not one of Shakespeare's best-known plays, lesser known more like. It is somewhat unorthodox for Shakespeare and was unorthodox at the time, with its depiction of gender role reversals and how surprisingly realistically cynical it is. It is also one of the most difficult Shakespeare plays to stage and interpret, with it being very psychological and having to bring it out compellingly and realistically.

That is a shame because it is an interesting play, both as an overall play and to analyse. 'All's Well that Ends Well' is not one of Shakespeare's best by any stretch, but all Shakespeare plays are worth reading and seeing at least once and 'All's Well that Ends Well' is no exception. It is funny, thought-provoking and sometimes very moving, with Shakespeare's mastery of language and memorable quotes always shining. Despite saying this, this deservedly acclaimed 1981 Elijah Moskinsky production is one of the best of the BBC Televison Shakespeare series. Although some productions are better than others and few of them are flawless, this series is a must watch for the main reason of seeing performances of all of Shakespeare's plays done with taste and with talented actors on board regardless of budget limitations.

Visually, it is one of the best-looking productions of the series. It does look incredibly attractive, gorgeous actually, in especially the sets and it was clear that a lot of care went into the production values, furthermore they were tasteful in look and in how used. Inspired by and based on the paintings of the likes of Vermeer, it is also one of the most visually interesting BBC Television Shakespeare productions. Nicely shot too, intimate yet not static.

Much credit has to go to Moskinsky for the stage direction. Never too cluttered. Never static with tedious stretches. Always done in good taste, without anything that adds nothing to the drama, works against it or leaves a bad taste in the mouth. He does a fine job making the characters compelling, both in character traits and psychologically. Bertram for example is made to be more complex than he can be, both cold with a big ego and sympathetic. Likewise with the character interaction, a prime example being with Helena and Bertram, which is at times remarkably tender and grows emotionally. What makes 'All's Well that Ends Well' problematic to stage does not phase Moshinsky. The balance of comedy and drama is funny and poignant and beautifully balanced.

It is hard not to expect fine performances from a talented cast, and the same can be said for all the productions of the series. Here we get them and more. The standouts for me are Angela Down as a positively text-book Helena, very deeply felt and strong and it felt very human and genuine, and Celia Johnson's dignified Countess. Also found Pippa Guard very charming, and Ian Charleson avoids making Bertram one-dimensional. Michael Hordern can do no wrong and Peter Jeffrey has fun, and it is great not to have an intentionally clownish character in Lavache too clownish or annoying.

Not much at all to criticise. For my tastes Donald Sindon overdoes it somewhat as the King.

Did find Bertram's conversion rather abrupt and rushed, but in all fairness that has always been one of the biggest criticisms of the play.

Summing up, all's well with this production and it's one of the best of the BBC Television Shakespeare productions, despite it being one of the lower rated ones. 9/10

This award-winning BBC production brings life, enormous appeal, and intelligence to a play criminally underperformed. It's a pleasure to watch ... and re-watch ... and re-watch.

Let's start with the fact that the production itself has been hailed far and wide for its beauty and visual precision. Director Elijah Moshinsky patterned it after paintings of Vermeer, and even though this may be unknown to the viewer, it has a remarkable subliminal impact.

Now for the cast:

Angela Down is the truly perfect Helena (the heroine of the play). She looks the part -- comely yet intellectual -- and speaks her lines with the perfect emotional fit. Most importantly, her diction and enunciation, and the speed at which she says the bard's words, make everything she says perfectly understandable and perfectly apt within that emotional fit. The viewer never has to wonder "What did she just say?" or "What does that mean?" Nonetheless the lines are fluid, musical, emotional, and very human. To me, this is the sign of a true Shakespearean actor.

Celia Johnson as the Countess Roussillon (Bertram's mother and Helena's guardian) is equally fantastic. She's a pleasure to watch and listen to. Consummate acting.

Ian Charleson as Bertram, Helena's very reluctant love object, is suitably sullen and morose, yet we see the physical beauty and the inherent charm, nobility, and charisma which attracts Helena to him. Charleson, a very internal actor, never overplays the part. To some extent he sometimes almost underplays it, occasionally speaking softly whilst his compatriots declaim more loudly or forcefully. Yet he holds our attention and fits the role very well.

The supporting cast is almost without exception quite admirable -- some remarkably so. Excellent casting, and a lot of excellent acting.

All in all, a very good production which makes the play easy to understand and enjoy.

Highly recommended.