Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well this past December was like an exquisite diamond necklace in which every gem is perfectly placed. Director Dan McCleary’s concept of a fairytale setting inspired by the art of Maxwell Parrish was visually stunning; the elegant set structure which distinctly evoked Parrish’s paintings worked in total harmony with the quasi-Medieval costumes to create a world where mystery, magic, and miracles abounded. The plot tells how a plucky servant girl named Helena pursues her love Bertram, a young nobleman in whose home she serves; he loves her, but is unaware of the fact. When he goes off to the French court, she follows and cures the king of his disease, whereupon the king allows her to choose any husband she wishes. Of course, she selects Bertram, who balks, since he would rather not be made to marry a woman whom he does not love, but when the king threatens him he agrees. Refusing to consummate the marriage, and goaded on by his swaggering friend Parolles, he flees to the wars in Italy, where the French are aiding the Italians; again, Helena goes after him, undeterred by the letter he’s sent her in which he declares that until she can get his family ring from his finger and is pregnant with his child, he’ll never acknowledge her as his wife. Upon arriving in Italy, she finds he’s been trying to seduce a young Italian girl named Diana, and comes up with a plan to prevent this – Diana agrees to sleep with Bertram, but in the dark of her room, it’s Helena who takes her place. In the end, Parolles gets his richly-deserved comeuppance when he’s revealed for the coward he is, Helena reunites with her husband at the King’s court where she, Diana, and Diana’s mother have journeyed, Bertram realizes he’s been a fool and that he loves his wife, and the two look forward to a joyful future as parents, since Helena is with child.

In most critics’ opinions, either Helena or Bertram is typically looked on as a fool; she is seen as an idiot for being passionately in love with such a scornful young man, or he is viewed as a despicable brute for rejecting her so cruelly. McCleary’s take on them, however, was refreshingly different – in his production, they were supposed to be about sixteen; this made Helena’s fervent love entirely plausible and relatable, while Bertram’s chafing at the king’s command was put into a fitting context.

Each performer took a keen delight in his or her role (notable standouts included the Countess, Bertram’s wise, affectionate mother, the quick-witted Lord Lafew, a family friend to the Countess and Bertram, and the cocky Parolles,) but the central figure was undoubtedly Helena. From the moment she rushed onstage, all girlish coltishness, her passion for Bertram was evident; it was as if she carried it on a platter, held out for all the world, except when it was necessary to hide it for discretion’s sake. As she confided in the audience, her ingenuous trust captured their hearts, and charmed by her sweetness and spunk, they watched as she won her boy, looked on concernedly as he left her, hoped her scheme for the bed-trick would work, and gazed in content as it did. The staging of this scene was especially lovely: Helena and Diana spread out a large rectangle of wine-hued cloth, then Helena gave Diana a ring she was to give Bertram, Diana draped part of the cloth over Bertram’s shoulder and kissed him, taking his ring off his hand as she did so, then Helena took hold of the other end of the fabric, and as Diana slipped from Bertram’s embrace, Helena spun into it. Diana put Helena’s ring onto Bertram’s finger, then twirled offstage, leaving husband and wife kissing blissfully. The final scene was equally heartwarming – all the characters smiled as Helena and Bertram hugged, and in an entirely unexpected twist, the King proposed to Diana, and she accepted. Helena then spoke the epilogue, and as everyone took their bows, the audience let out a thunderous round of justly deserved applause, lending their “gentle hands” as Helena requested.

All in all, this excellent show was both a splendid production of one of the Bard’s dreadfully underappreciated jewels and another resounding triumph for the Tennessee Shakespeare Company.