Vidar Hjardeng MBE - RSC All’s Well that Ends Well, Audio Described Theatre Review
Season 1, Episode 1425, Oct 17, 2022, 12:00 PM
RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next in his regular Connect Radio audio described theatre reviews.
This week Vidar was reviewing the audio described performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Alls Well that Ends Well on Saturday 1 October at 1.15pm with audio description by professional Describers Ellie Packer and Julia Grundy.
Set in France and Italy, All's Well That Ends Well is a story of one-sided romance, based on a tale from Boccaccio's The Decameron. Helen, the orphaned daughter of a doctor, is under the protection of the widowed Countess of Rossillion. In love with Bertram, the countess' son, Helen follows him to court, where she cures the sick French king of an apparently fatal illness. The king rewards Helen by offering her the husband of her choice. She names Bertram; he resists. When forced by the king to marry her, he refuses to sleep with her and, accompanied by the braggart Parolles, leaves for the Italian wars. He says that he will only accept Helen if she obtains a ring from his finger and becomes pregnant with his child. She goes to Italy disguised as a pilgrim and suggests a 'bed trick' whereby she will take the place of Diana, a widow's daughter whom Bertram is trying to seduce. A 'kidnapping trick' humiliates the boastful Parolles, whilst the bed trick enables Helen to fulfil Bertram's conditions, leaving him no option but to marry her, to his mother's delight.
This offbeat anti-romcom from Director, Blanche McIntyre explores the modern resonance of All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare’s enduring dark comedy.
To find out more about audio description at the Royal Shakespeare Company, do visit the access pages of the RSC Website via the following link-
https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/access/assisted-performances/audio-description
(Image shows RNIB logo. 'RNIB' written in black capital letters over a white background and underlined with a bold pink line, with the words 'See differently' underneath)
This week Vidar was reviewing the audio described performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Alls Well that Ends Well on Saturday 1 October at 1.15pm with audio description by professional Describers Ellie Packer and Julia Grundy.
Set in France and Italy, All's Well That Ends Well is a story of one-sided romance, based on a tale from Boccaccio's The Decameron. Helen, the orphaned daughter of a doctor, is under the protection of the widowed Countess of Rossillion. In love with Bertram, the countess' son, Helen follows him to court, where she cures the sick French king of an apparently fatal illness. The king rewards Helen by offering her the husband of her choice. She names Bertram; he resists. When forced by the king to marry her, he refuses to sleep with her and, accompanied by the braggart Parolles, leaves for the Italian wars. He says that he will only accept Helen if she obtains a ring from his finger and becomes pregnant with his child. She goes to Italy disguised as a pilgrim and suggests a 'bed trick' whereby she will take the place of Diana, a widow's daughter whom Bertram is trying to seduce. A 'kidnapping trick' humiliates the boastful Parolles, whilst the bed trick enables Helen to fulfil Bertram's conditions, leaving him no option but to marry her, to his mother's delight.
This offbeat anti-romcom from Director, Blanche McIntyre explores the modern resonance of All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare’s enduring dark comedy.
To find out more about audio description at the Royal Shakespeare Company, do visit the access pages of the RSC Website via the following link-
https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/access/assisted-performances/audio-description
(Image shows RNIB logo. 'RNIB' written in black capital letters over a white background and underlined with a bold pink line, with the words 'See differently' underneath)