All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare's Globe)

Often identified as one of Shakespeare’s "problem plays", All’s Well That Ends Well remains one of the Bard’s trickiest and least popular offerings. This Gujarati adaptation, which transports the action to India at the turn of the twentieth century, solves the problem by reimagining it as a straightforward, feelgood comedy. In Arpana’s version, all really is well that ends well, abandoning irony in favour of buoyant celebration.

First presented as part of the Globe to Globe festival in 2012, this production still feels remarkably fresh two years on. In translating the play across cultures, Arpana have opted for a wholesale but impressively smooth transformation, staging their version in the style of the traditional Bhangwadi theatre that emerged in India in the 19th century. What this means in practice is song, dance and broad comedic brushstrokes; it is, essentially, ready-made for the inherently sociable space of the Globe, directed robustly at groundlings and seated audiences alike.

Here, Bertram is Bharatram, an ambitious young man keen to leave behind his native Gujarat and make his name as a merchant in Bombay. But he is stubbornly pursued across the country by his mother’s ward Heli (Helen), who is determined to have her love requited. All the key features of the play remain, slotting neatly into their new context. Class anxieties and professional aspirations resonate strongly with an India that is modernising as fast as Bharatram, who quickly sheds his lungi in favour of a Western-style suit, while soliloquies are effortlessly transformed into songs.

Sunil Shanbag’s direction draws out some joyous moments from the action, offering plenty for non-Gujarati speaking audiences as well as for the expat community that this production is primarily targeted at. Gokuldas (standing in for the King of France in the original) is cured in fast forward, initially spiralling the stage at an invalid stumble before speeding up to an energetic gallop. And when Bharatram and his friend Parbat (Parolles) describe their adventures in Bombay, the pair’s antics become a delightfully madcap musical number.

There’s strong work from the whole cast, who animate Shakespeare’s potentially problematic characters with easy warmth and humour. Some of the nuance is lost, and many audience members might be left scratching their heads about why spirited Heli remains so keen on her disloyal husband, but it’s a sacrifice worth making for Arpana’s ebullient treatment.

All's Well that Ends Well continues at Shakespeare's Globe until 10 May 2014