When they announced a few months ago that Jodie Whittaker would be appearing in a new version of The Duchess of Malfi I jumped at the chance, knowing this would be a big ticket show for the autumn and a massive success. Then I saw the reviews…. and we were severely tempted not to throw good money after bad and save the cost of the train ticket. But curiosity got the better of us so that we could see for ourselves just how awful the production was. And I’m very glad we did.
Given this is one of theatre’s most acclaimed plays throughout the centuries, it’s perhaps surprising how simple the story is. In a nutshell: a young widow, the Duchess has fallen for her steward, Antonio, and wants to marry him. Her brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand, however, want her to stay widowed and alone; their reason for this is never truly made clear – a mixture of power, jealousy, perhaps financial; but primarily simply because they can. When she marries Antonio, they are so enraged that they plot revenge, which (spoiler alerts seem hardly necessary after four hundred years) culminate in her death. Ferdinand goes mad; (nearly) everybody dies.
First, this isn’t The Duchess of Malfi as John Webster wrote it. The programme describes it as written and directed by Zinnie Harris after John Webster. I didn’t count them, but I would estimate there are about twenty of Webster’s original lines that have made it through to this version, including the famous I am Duchess of Malfi still, which, disappointingly, they use three times in the same scene, proving that sometimes less is more. Second, although the final scene ends in a bloodbath, as in the original, there’s one significant character who doesn’t die, and those that do are murdered by different people from the original. Third, of all the things that they could have dropped from the original, the songs have been included, but again performed by different people and at different points. Indeed, they are enhanced with the appearance of a musician whose sole purpose is to play the guitar and look moody. I guess the singing does lend an air of Brechtian alienation, if that was deliberate.
But this is a good moment to point out that this modern Duchess isn’t anything like as bad as some people would have you think. The storytelling is crystal clear, and although I would have preferred the new text to have more subtlety and less crudity – the Cardinal asking Julia if she wants to suck his c*ck for example, lacks iambic pentameter at the very least – it’s totally believable and extremely relevant.
There is a caveat here; after several hours of contemplation and discussion, we still can’t decide whether or not the final scene was played for laughs. According to Webster, Ferdinand accidentally wounds Bosola, which eventually causes the latter’s death. In this production, Ferdinand accidentally shoots someone else with the words oops I didn’t mean to do that. See what I mean? If they don’t mean to play it for laughs, then the whole final scene is far too ludicrous to take seriously; if they do mean to play it for laughs, it’s not funny enough. Although, to be fair: fantastic bloodography.
This version includes many of the original’s elements, such as the apricots, the use of Echo, and Ferdinand’s lycanthropy; and changes others, such as having Delio and Julia married in a loveless relationship, with Delio secretly besotted with Antonio. The torture of the Duchess is made more direct with an invasive buzzer sound and blinding light treatment, and a repeated blood-spattered projection of Antonio and her children being shot by firing squad; it may be in keeping with the rest of the play but it’s tedious and annoying to watch. Didn’t I tell you that the text could do with more subtlety?
However, it boasts a terrific cast who all put in tremendous performances. Jodie Whittaker is superb as the Duchess; forthright, cheeky, brave, and vulnerable. Joel Fry carries off Antonio’s mildness superbly, nicely underplayed and completely believable. Paul Ready’s Cardinal is deliciously duplicitous; an arrogant, hypocritical wretch and a perfect accompaniment with Rory Fleck Byrne’s unpredictable and sadistic Ferdinand. Jude Owusu’s Bosola is a man tricked into crime which clashes with his inner nobility, which he conveys powerfully well. Matti Houghton is also great as the Duchess’s maid Cariola,nicely no-nonsense, deeply practical and loyal; and there’s excellent support from Elizabeth Ayodele’s Julia and Hubert Burton’s Delio.
Webster was much possessed by death, according to T S Eliot, and this production certainly emphasises that. Clearly, if you are a Jacobean purist, you are going to hate this production. However, despite its unsubtleties and excesses, The Duchess makes for a compelling watch with excellent storytelling. The limited run lasts at the Trafalgar Theatre until 20th December.
Three-sy Does It!
