All's Well That Ends Well
All’s Well That Ends Well
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Robert Alderman
4-7 December 2024
at St Mary's Church, Church End, Hendon, NW4 4JT
CAST
Helena - Naomi Smallwood
Bertram, Count Rousillon - Daniel Drema*
Parolles, a follower of Bertram - Matthew Pert
Countess Rousillon, Bertram's Mother - Samantha Charles
King of France - Guyene Muneesamy
Lafew, an old lord at court - Stephen Chapman
Lavatch, clown to the countess - Edward Smith
First Lord Dumaine , a young lord at court - Richard Tinworth*
Second Lord Dumaine, his brother - Gavin Rodgers
Reynaldo, steward to the countess/ Duke of Florence/ Gentleman Asstringer - Colin Joseph
Widow Capilet, innkeeper in Florene - Carol Wakefield
Diana Capilet, her daughter - Sasha Gordon*
Marianne, neighbour of Widow Capilet/ Maudlin, Lafew's daughter/
Fourth Lord/ Second Soldier - Caroline Turner *
1st Soldier (Interpreter)/ Third Lord - Clare Harding*
(*First timer performer with Theatre in the Square)
Helena, the low-born daughter of a recently deceased physician and ward of Countess Rousillion, loves the countess's son Bertram, who is indifferent to her. He goes to Paris as attendant to the ailing King of France. Helena follows him, ostensibly to offer the King her services as a healer. The King is skeptical but she guarantees the cure: if he dies, she will be put to death, but if he lives, she may choose a husband from the court. The King is cured and Helena chooses Bertram, who rejects her, beause of her low status. The King forces the marriage, but after the ceremony Bertram immediately goes to war in Italy without so much as a goodbye kiss. He says that he will only marry her after she has carried his child and wears his family ring.
How is Helena to resolve this and what part do the coward, Parolles, the clown, Lavatch, the faithful Lafew, the Lords Dumanin and the widow Capilet and her daughter Diana play in this.
All's Well That Ends Well is considered one of Shakespeare's "problem plays", a play that poses complex ethical dilemmas that require more than typically simple solutions.
Last Updated: 4 December 2024