Tortuous, twisted and potentially alienating, John Webster’s violent revenge drama is underperformed for good reason.
Especially for a modern audience, the most palatable approach to the melancholy, madness and mass murder is to treat it as dark comedy rather than tragedy and BlackSun’s interpretation, directed by Jemma Gross, is best when we are not taking it too seriously.
It begins with an assured, stylised presentation of the creatures of the court and the Church. Decadent silk is in abundance and the colour scheme is black for evil, white for purity and red for blood.
Modern dress breaks down the barrier between audience and cast, but also removes the distance that could have established more vividly the play’s belief in eternal damnation.
Equally, there is no clear divide between the lay miscreants and the corrupt prelates, which adds to the plot’s confusion.
What is apparent is that Julia (Rose Romain), the Cardinal’s wife is a scarlet woman, literally and metaphorically, and we relish her interaction with the hired assassin Bosola, played by James Rose.
The chemistry between Trudy Elizabeth Hodgson as a matronly Duchess and her slender suitor Antonio (Henry Doulton) is less compelling and the moral high-ground - crucial to the delivery of the famous line “I am Duchess of Malfi still” - is ill-defined.
This review was based on a preview performance
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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