DUCHESS OF MALFI, New Vic, N'castle U Lyme, till 16 Nov

Newcastle Under Lyme

DUCHESS OF MALFI: John Webster
New Vic: Newcastle Under Lyme, Tkts 01782 717962

Runs: 2h 50m, one interval, till 16 Nov
Perfs: 7.30 mat Sat 9 2.30
Review: Rod Dungate, 26 October 2002

A violent play that sits well in our times: dark and brooding though an occasional lightness of touch would be welcome.Bloated and inflexible religion and a male adherence to its own elite position are condemning women to perpetual imprisonment and early death is what we must take from Lucy Pitman-Wallace's coolly matter-of-fact production at the New Vic. A message indeed for our times as we look around our world.

The story is relatively simple: the Duchess, a widow, marries one of her staff and has three children by him. Her two brothers decide she has let down the family name and have her and her children murdered. One brother admits, finally, that he did this because he wanted her to stay unmarried so he could claim her money. But Webster is using his vehicle to express unequivocally his belief in women's right to decide their own futures – the Duchess points out that the birds in the fields are better off than she is because they can choose their own mates.

The real dangerous double edge to Webster's plays, though, lies in the tension between his seriousness of intent and the wicked (is it cynical?) delight he takes in the violence. It is this, I think, more than anything else that enables his plays to sit so comfortably into our own age. The wickedness, or cynicism, suits us very well.

In the Vic's open space, in Pitman-Wallace's uncluttered production, the play is laid bare and simple. With its rich period fabrics, its gloomy lighting, its luxurious ecclesiastical music framing the action, the world created is going rotten from the inside outwards: in a super touch, it actually haemorrhages at the end.

Katherine Grice creates a warm Duchess: more neighbour than hot-bloodied Italian, she is a woman who simply wants to create a life with the man she loves – and dies for it. Her companion/servant, Cariola is played with great good (and sensitive) humour by Helen Murton – who does a most gruesome death too. Pitman-Wallace casts the Duchess' brother, Ferdinand, young. This gives rise to some difficulties within the play's central family but pays dividends towards the middle of the play. It's as if Simon Scardifield's Ferdinand is playing at being boss and, chillingly, playing at his remorse after his sister's murder. He strokes her corpse, lying alongside her, he's more absorbed in playing the effect on him than he is concerned about what's been done to her.

Bosola, the dark and murderous servant, is darkly and moodily created by Jonathan Coote. He looks good and sounds good – with his deep gravely voice. If anything, though, he could do with a lightness of touch time to time and varying his pace a little.

A general point that Pitman-Wallace might keep in mind – she hasn't yet, quite come to terms with Webster's all-important double-edge.

Castruchio: Charlie Buckland
Bosola: Jonathan Coote
Antonio: Chris Garner
Duchess: Katherine Grice
Malateste: Emmanuel Ighodaro
Pescara: Keith Ladd
Cardinal: Charles Millham
Cariola: Helen Murton
Ferdinand: Simon Scardifield
Delio: Giles Taylor
Silvio: Tim Weekes
Julia: Natasha Estelle Williams
Children: Steven Cuell, Ashleigh Knight, Tom Morton, Phillipa Higginson

Director: Lucy Pitman-Wallace
Designer: Jessica Curtis
Movement: Sue Nash
Fights: Terry King
Voice: Neil Swain
Musical Director: Giles Taylor
Sound: James Earls-Davis
Lighting: Daniella Beattie

2002-10-27 17:23:56