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‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ is notorious for being one of Shakespeare’s least loved plays, and it is certainly one of the least performed. However, the Globe’s summer production did its best to dispel this negativity, and judging by the reactions of the audience, from the cheers to guffaws and heartfelt ‘awws’, it was successful. Of course, being performed at the Globe the success of the production had a head start, the setting and atmosphere supporting to Shakespeare’s beautiful prose, and making the experience all the more authentic. The use of lavish Jacobean dress and period instruments heightened this sense of steeping back in time.
The acting itself, however, was hit and miss. The performance of James Garnon as Parolles was fantastic, his comic deliverance easing the gap between Shakespearian language and that of today. The audience roared with laughter at his interaction with the irate Lafeu, stealing the limelight from less convincing dialogues from the leads, Helena and Bertram – though Shakespeare himself is at some fault here, as the instant changes in Bertram’s love seem fickle verging on ridiculous. At some points Sam Crane as Bertram and Naomi Cranston as Helena do manage to deliver their lines with force and feeling giving insight into their complex characters – the arrogant yet confused nobleman and the meek yet powerful ‘Modern Woman’, as Helena was dubbed by George Bernard Shaw. But, at other times they fall into overacting, using exaggerated gestures to aid the translation of their lines to the audience – a habit sadly all too common with Shakespearian productions.
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| Cranston and Dee in performance |
Nevertheless, some stellar performances were to be had, notably from Janie Dee playing the Countess of Roussilon, who injected humour and vitality into a role usually taken by much older women.
At times this production was lacking, but it was undeniably an enjoyable and exciting performance, introducing a new era of audience to a previously underappreciated play.
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