The Duchess of Malfi

The last time I saw this revenge tragedy must be more than 40 years ago and I remember it being a violent and bloody misery fest.  But this version has Jodie Whittaker so when I spotted a last minute discount ticket in the stalls I couldn’t resist.

Whittaker is impressive from the start, commanding the stage and running rings around her childish, cartoonish, controlling brothers as she relishes her freedom after being widowed.  She continues to confidently hold the reins as she secretly marries her weak but sweet steward.  So far so good, but all falls to pieces pretty quickly from there.  

The first half of this production is actually a bit of a mess, disjointed and with some strange decisions around direction, the text and which scenes to keep or cut.  With modern dress and setting, the original language is almost completely ditched by Zinnie Harris in this version, and the focus is resolutely on the misogyny and aggressive patriarchy which cannot let a woman have agency over her life or desires. 

If the first half felt disjointed, the second half starts motoring along and is worth staying for although it ramps up the misery no end, with the Duchess captured in a basement prison.  The use of film, sound and lighting makes it even grimmer as the plot gradually grinds through to its inevitable conclusion.  Despite the grimness the second half was worth staying for, particularly for Whittaker’s performance which was powerful and moving.  I particularly loved that she kept the line ‘I am the Duchess .. still’ . Another call out goes to Jude Owusu who plays Bosola and managed to make his moral twists and turns believable.

Overall though this was a pretty disappointing adaptation of the 17th century classic, only saved by some great performances. 

Finally, this was another occasion where a person in charge of an enormous head of hair sat right in front of me.  Luckily the view was good enough that I could look round them, but I am beginning to think that there should be limits on the size of heads and hats.