Staging All's Well That Ends Well

Although the All's Well That Ends Well trailers present the play in a manner that would appeal to viewers, I don't think it necessarily represents the play in accordance with the text.  In the National Theatre Live trailer, I felt that the scene following Helena's treatment of the king was well-staged.  As Shakespeare wrote in Act II, Scene III of the text, "Lustig, as the Dutchman says: I'll like a maid the better, whilst I have a tooth in my head: why, he's able to lead her a coranto."  Just like the text describes, the king comes out dancing with Helena after she has cured him.  I thought the king looked sufficiently sick in the first part of the trailer.  In the trailer for the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of the work, I thought the costumes were probably accurate to the time.  Again, after Helena heals the king, he leads her out from his chamber in a dance, which was also true to the text.  I felt that Bertram was, true to the text, reticent in his relationship with Helena in the latter trailer.

On the other hand, I didn't think Bertram was sufficiently reserved towards Helena in the National Theatre Live trailer.  He looks enthused to kiss her, but in the text, again in Act II, Scene III, he states, "I cannot love her, nor will I strive to do 't."  The costumes in the former version of the trailer are also more modern: for example, during the scene of the king's miraculous healing, Helena dances wearing a strapless dress.  In the Shakespeare Theatre Company's trailer, I thought the play was presented too lightheartedly.  While it is a comedy, there are some darker scenes, and, as discussed in class, the end of the play isn't a typical "happy ending."