Everybody dies! Wake up Shakespeare, if you want a real tragedy look no further than this John Webster classic. There will be blood, and this time lots of it! Maria Aberg is one of my favourite directors having already seen her RSC productions of Doctor Faustus, The White Devil, As You Like It and the brilliant King John. All reviewed on this blog and all hugely colourful and entertaining.
But Aberg's realisation of The Duchess of Malfi is neither of those, instead it is quite a departure to something much more serious and shocking. As ever, Aberg's visuals are impressive, but |I found the huge theatrical device in the second half (I spent the whole of the first in eerie anticipation) to be far too overpowering that it dominated the play so much that the story seemed secondary. Suffice to say, this was not my favourite production from this director.
I was disappointed with the casting. Joan Iyiola is a powerful presence as the Duchess, but her diction left a lot to be desired. Alexander Cobb and Chris New are not convincing as her two malevolent brothers and nor is Paul Woodson as Antonio. It is left to Nicolas Tennant to hold the play together as a terrific Basalo. The supporting cast were fine.
The music from the live five piece band was dynamic, and the performance of "I Put a Spell on You" by Aretha Ayeh as Julia was a highlight of the evening. But it's dark and dramatic presentation was so different to the joyous songs in all the other plays from this director, and typified the undercurrent of violence and abuse that she wanted us to endure.
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