All’s Well That Ends

All’s Well That Ends

On April 23, of 2006, I traveled in to Boston to watch the Actor’s Shakespeare’s Project and their rendition of “All’s Well That Ends Well.” Going in with a weeks worth of previous knowledge on the play, I had very high hopes. Sadly, after sitting through a long and awkward three hours, I was able to leave with an only slightly more in-depth knowledge of the show.

The major difference that I noticed between the play and the performance is how I directly related and felt towards many of the characters. For instance, while reading the play, I felt very uncomfortable towards Helena and many of the actions she took. When, in the play, she goes and finds out that Diana has been courted by Bertram, and then convinces them to go along with her seemingly foolish plan, I could not understand how anyone would find that believable or even acceptable. However, when I saw it performed, I actually related so much to Helena that I completely accepted it.

On the other hand, something that made me even more confused after seeing the show was just why Helena loved Bertram so much. When reading the play, I got the feeling that he had always acted very civilly towards her, maybe even on occasion