Production Details:Title: All's Well That Ends Well
Author: William Shakespeare
Adaptation by Chris Collins
Directed by Chris Collins
Performed at Bramfield Queen's Head on 17 July, Bungay Castle on 18 July, Laxfield King's Head on 19 July, Dunwich Ship on 20 July, Sibton White Horse on 21 July, and Wenhaston Church Common & Castle Meadow Bramfield on 22 July 2012.
Click here to view a slideshow of photos with music from the show or to manually look through the gallery click here.
Items held in the digital archive: [albm][post][prog][pics][revw] (see key)
Every so often I look through the Shakespeare canon, trying to find a suitable play that we haven't already taken on a summer tour over the past 29 years. Until this year I had never considered All's Well: I'd never read it or seen it and like most people all I knew about it was the title. Initial research wasn't encouraging — it is categorised as a "problem" play and Bertram's change of heart at the end seemed abrupt and unbelievable, contributing to it being one of the least performed of Shakespeare's plays.
However, the basic story looked interesting and I thought it could work when cut down to an hour-and-a-bit. It was a bit of a struggle getting it down to length but we ended up with a workable play with a rather odd "love" element (complete with bed trick), some comedy, plenty of music and what turned out to be our biggest ever army (total number 8).
We were very fortunate to be able to assemble such a talented cast and I was delighted with the way the production developed (with Barbara's invaluable help). When the wonderful music and costumes (not forgetting the soldiers' shields) were added, things really came to life. It was very satisfying to watch the cast begin to understand their characters and to add the bits of "business" that contribute so much to a production. You only have to look at the photographs to see that everyone — and that includes the minor parts — is really in the spirit of things and acting in character.
The tour began in poor weather. The opening night in Bramfield was dull but dry and well attended. Bungay Castle was very soggy and surrounded by thunderstorms when we arrived to set up, but at least we were able to move into St Mary's church — a fine performance space. Then it drizzled throughout the Laxfield and Dunwich performances; umbrellas went up and down but the audiences (particularly good at Dunwich) stayed put. At last the weather improved for a full house at Sibton and very good crowds at Wenhaston and Castle Meadow, where the sun set on our tour.
We made a special effort on publicity — hopefully while keeping costs under control — and despite the poor early weather, audience numbers were definitely up, which was gratifyingly reflected in the takings.
Many thanks to everyone involved. I hope you think your hard work was worth it! For my part I was delighted with the end result. It all seemed to end well…
