The Bacchanals proudly present: All’s Well That Ends Well

The Bacchanals proudly present: 

All’s Well That Ends Well

By William Shakespeare

Directed by David Lawrence

All's Well That Ends Well, Hilary Penwarden as Helena 2, Photo credit David Lawrence

Your friends and ours The Bacchanals (6-time Chapman Kip and 11-time Chapman Tripp winners!) are back to kick off the theatrical year for 2014 with one of their favourite obscure Shakespearean comedies performed in their favourite obscure Wellington venue!  

Last summer was blood & homoerotica & Oedipal complexes in Coriolanus; this summer The Bacchanals are proud to bring magic potions & dying kings & unjustly-wronged heroines to The Long Hall in All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare’s classic tale of a girl who can’t understand why her stepbrother doesn’t want to marry her!

With the King of France dying of an apparently incurable disease, the orphaned and low-born Helena turns out to be the only person in the world with the medical knowledge to save the King’s life.  As a reward, the King grants Helena the power to marry whoever she desires, regardless of wealth and status – but no one is prepared for the severity and ruthlessness of the seemingly-virtuous Bertram’s rejection of Helena as his royally-decreed wife, nor with the lengths Helena is prepared to go to in order to win his love.  

“I know, I know,” says The Bacchanals’ director, David Lawrence from the cabinet room of his bunker while his actors shave the serial numbers off ammunition clips, “starting the year with a romantic comedy is hardly in keeping with our usual guerrilla approach to theatre.  But this is no ordinary romantic comedy, and we’ve got lots of other angry political stuff planned for the rest of the year.  Don’t worry, there will be bombs!”

All’s Well That Ends Well stars Hilary Penwarden as Helena and recent Chapman Tripp-winner Joe Dekkers-Reihana as Bertram, with stalwart company members Salesi Le’ota, Brianne Kerr, Jean Sergent, Michael Ness, Charlotte Pleasants, Alice May Connolly, Aidan Weekes and a special guest appearance by the legendary Alex Greig.  

Winners of the Critics’ Wildcard Award for Guts, Determination, Kiwi Ingenuity and Inspired Profligacy With Zero Budget at the 2013 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, The Bacchanals intend to spend 2014 campaigning for good and fighting evil, so don’t forget there’ll also be the world premiere of Dean Parker’s Once We Built A Tower at BATS in March!

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
By William Shakespeare
Directed by David Lawrence
23 Jan – 1 Feb, 7pm (no show Mon)
Roseneath Long Hall, 13 Maida Vale Rd (behind Roseneath School & St Barnabas’)
Tickets: $15 / Bookings: tickets@thebacchanals.net 

ENDS

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