Broadcasting the Bard

London's National Theatre (NT) is mounting its second high-definition broadcast of a live performance with Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, showing in Prague at the Aero cinema. The ambitious production follows NT's broadcast earlier this year of Jean Racine's Phedre, which featured Helen Mirren, Dominic Cooper and Margaret Tyzack.

All's Well stars Oliver Ford Davies, Conleth Hill, Clare Higgins, George Rainsford, Janet Henfrey and Michelle Terry, and is directed by Marianne Elliott. This one-night-only event will go out via satellite to 270 theaters in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and Europe.

Filming live theater is a problematic affair, let alone orchestrating a live broadcast on such a scale. Typically, such attempts err either by lacking cinematic effect through the use of static camera angles and poor sound or by forcing the actors to play to moving cameras rather than the audience. Phedre suffered from neither of these shortcomings and was as close to an authentic NT production - closer, actually, given the size of the screen and relatively small venue - as one is likely to get, short of visiting London.

The sometimes caustic English press has been largely effusive in its praise for Elliott's treatment of the Bard. Fresh off award-winning productions of War Horse, Pillars of the Community and Saint Joan, Elliott describes All's Well as a "problematic" yet "intensely alluring" play, going on to explain that her production portrays the activity in "a grim folktale world" by highlighting allusions to numerous fairy tales (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.).

The plot concerns the plight of Bertram (Rainsford), who flees the entrapment of his mother after his father dies and is summoned to the court of the King of France (Davies), who basically gives him away as a prize to the low-born Helena (Terry) as a reward for having cured him of a seemingly terminal illness. After reluctantly consenting to the marriage, Bertram flees to war in Italy, hoping to elude his fate even if it means death. Nevertheless, the indefatigable Helena purses him. A subplot centers on Parolles (Hill), a cowardly miscreant who is taught a lesson in honor by French soldiers.

The fantastical proceedings, disparate settings and large cast present greater technical difficulties for the NT crew than did the small cast and single set of Phedre. Elliot hopes to surmount these obstacles by employing nine cameras (the previous production used five). If the technical and cinematic achievements of NT's first attempt may be taken as precedent, there's reason to believe that all will indeed be well. Additionally, the broadcast will be the last performance of the production after an extended and successful run, so the evolution and tightening of the players' efforts will doubtless have reached its zenith.

Future NT live broadcasts will feature a new play by Alan Bennett, The Habit of Art, starring Michael Gambon and Alex Jennings among others, and Mark Ravenhill's adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel Nation. The series as a whole promises to be a marvelous technological achievement and a valuable opportunity for audiences around the world to get taste of what the Brits can do onstage.

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com