Directed by
Marianne Elliott

Designed by
Rae Smith

Music by
Adam Cork

Projection design by
Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll

Helena
Michelle Terry

Countess
Clare Higgins

Bertram
George Rainsford

Parolles
Conleth Hill

King of France
Oliver Ford Davies

Lafew
Michael Thomas

First Lord
Elliot Levey

Second Lord
Tony Jayawardena

Diana
Hasina Haque

Lavatch
Brendan O’Hea

Rynaldo
Michael Mears

Widow
Janet Henfrey

Mariana
Sioned Jones

Two big facts about “All’s Well” intersect to make one relish seeing it produced on stage. The first is that it is tells a relatively straightforward story in a complicated way, with much compression in its complexity. The second is that the text of the play, of which no other known copy exists before the 1623 Folio, is corrupt, with perplexing lines here and there, apparent breaks, and occasional confusion about who says what when. How is the challenge to be met? Will it work on stage?
      To a director of talent these problems are opportunities. Marianne Elliott has taken the opportunities brilliantly, and with the help of an outstanding cast strong all the way down to the minor roles, has produced a classic staging that should on no account be missed. This is Shakespeare production of the first quality. It is imaginatively realised and superbly played; it is funny, gripping, moving, and beautifully paced; and by no means incidentally, all is enhanced by the design and the striking and often witty use of back projection.
      To illustrate how compressed the elements of the play are, consider: the Countess’s homily to Bertram as he is about to leave for the Court is a succinct version of Polonius’s homily to Laertes. That sets a scene: of miniature recapitulations of themes which, on their own, make the entirety of other Shakespeare works. Helena cures the King and as her reward gets her pick of husband; practically the whole of the “Merchant of Venice” unfolds on an analogous plot, but here it is just the beginning of the tale. Bertram is partly redeemed by his valour in battle, as with Prince Hal. The fate meted out to Parolles is the substance of the “Merry Wives” tricks on Falstaff. The dead heroine returning to life reminds one of “Winter’s Tale”. And so on: other analogies are as obvious. With so many moving parts, the play can have a laboured feel, chiefly embodied in the convolutions of Helena’s plot. But in this deftly handled staging, in which the characters, the humour, even the antique premises of the gulf between social classes and the fetishisation of female chastity, come into view with the most crystalline clarity, the story seems to bound fluently and logically - and hugely enjoyably - along.
      Michelle Terry is superb. Of course, Shakespeare’s leading women in the comedies are a delight: tough, true, clever and witty, they are gifts to sure- footed actresses. Terry is one such, and makes the role her own. Conleth Hill grasps with both hands the opportunity Shakespeare gives in Parolles. It might be said that the most difficult role is that of the Countess, because of the balance that it requires between competing emotions and the ambiguities of aristocratic widowhood (see how her familiarity with Lavatch causes her embarrassment at one point: well observed by director and actress!) but Clare Higgins inhabits her so beautifully that it looks easy.
      The rest of the cast members merit individual praise in high degree. Oliver Ford Davies is every inch an ageing king, George Rainsford’s Bertram is wonderfully vigorous and spoiled, Michael Thomas, Elliot Levey, Hasina Haque as respectively Lafew, First Lord and Diana are excellent - indeed everyone gets a gold star in this production. Shakespeare requires a powerful cohort on stage to work really well; his are team plays, so that even though two or three have many lines, there is necessity in the least of the speaking roles, which must be as well done as the chief role: each play is organic in its structure, with no loose connections.
      The best Shakespeare productions are the joint outcome of fine acting talent and a fine directorial intelligence at work upon it. That is why it has to be said, without hyperbole, that this staging of “All’s Well” is a classic, and unmissable.
AC Grayling