The Spanish Tragedy

Published Wednesday 21 October 2009 at 11:50 by Natasha Tripney

Mitchell Moreno’s modern dress production of Thomas Kyd’s influential but infrequently performed revenge play of the 1580 is bathed in blood. The final scenes are a cacophony of violence, of inventive slayings and splatters of red - it’s gloriously bombastic and operatic in scope, sending judder after judder through the unnerved audience.

A scene from The Spanish Tragedy at the Arcola Theatre Photo: Rosie Collins

Dominic Rowan plays Hieronimo, Knight Marshall of Spain, who, traumatised and near-mad with grief after the murder of his son, Horatio, seeks revenge on those who orchestrated it. Revenge in this play takes the form of a young girl in pigtails and ankle socks (played with the perfect air of menace by the eleven-year-old Shannon Williams for this performance, although the role is shared) who watches events unfold from the sidelines. Moreno counters the absurdities and excesses of the play with a necessary measure of dry humour and for the most part manages a good balance, as he builds to the climactic play within a play. Rowan’s performance shifts from initial soft-voiced disbelief to the astonishing clarity of a man committed to his actions, however bloody the outcome and Charlie Covell is impressively dignified as Belimperia, daughter of the Duke and lover of Horatio, forced to marry against her will.