Christina Rouner and Gareth Saxe
Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg
The Duchess of Malfi is back! John Webster’s rarely-performed play has been resuscitated by the Red Bull Theater company at Theater of St. Clements. Although this new production is not for the faint-hearted, adventurous playgoers are sure to be exhilarated by director Jesse Berger’s bold spin on this bleak romantic tragedy.
The Duchess of Malfi is part romance, part horror story, and altogether a tragedy. It traces the Duchess of Malfi’s clandestine love affair and marriage to her household steward Antonio. A young attractive widow, the Duchess is strictly ordered by her two brothers (the Cardinal of Aragon and her twin Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria) to remain chaste and unmarried. Defying their wishes, she follows her heart and marries Antonio. Presenting herself as a single widow at the Italian court, she privately enjoys her marriage to Antonio, bearing and raising his 3 children. But the Duchess’s secret marriage is exposed when the soldier Bosola, a spy hired by Ferdinand, discovers a horoscope for her newborn son. Bosola informs her brothers, and Ferdinand soon confronts his twin sister with her social unequal marriage and sexual transgressions. Exposed, the Duchess confesses and awaits her fate.
Save for the lyrically romantic scenes between the Duchess and Antonio, the play is awash with horrific torture (both physical and psychological), grisly mutilations (imagine Titus Andronicus with a new twist), a lunatic pageant, and a series of cold-blooded murders. This 17th-century play has a sangfroid feel to it, or to borrow T. S. Eliot’s description of Webster’s macabre tragedy, it repeatedly shows “the skull beneath the skin.”
Deceptions and disguises abound. There’s the Cardinal’s hypocrisy (he keeps a mistress named Julia), Bosola’s spying, and Ferdinand’s surprise entrances from secret concealments. But even if you don’t “get” every vicious turn of event here, don’t fret. Webster is such a master craftsman that the denouement will hit you with colossal force. Not since the final scene of Hamlet have I seen so many corpses heaped on stage. And the tragedy is all the more powerful for being a domestic one.
There are some clever and innovative touches in this production that raise it from the routine. One of the most striking events comes in the opening scene. The burial of the Duchess is presented in an elegantly-acted mime, foreshadowing what lies ahead in the story. Equally effective is a surreal scene where the Duchess regally stands among her torturers, holding a microphone and crooning Rodgers & Hart’s “I Love You More Than Yesterday.” Since we intuit that she is at the point of death, this dream-like scene serves like a poignant swan song. This production might take creative liberties with the original drama but not in a reductive or frivolous manner.
This production moves like the wind. Berger has trimmed the drama down to its bare essentials and tightened the story. Considering that the play could stretch on for over 3 hours if it were staged in its entirety, it’s a wise choice on the part of Berger. The modern-dress costumes (Jared B. Leese) are simple with a classical line. The set (Beowulf Boritt) is no-frills, a raised platform with 2 levels of performing space. In Act One we see swaths of burgundy-red fabric stretched over the stage; late in Act One it will be stripped away, revealing a geometric steel framework representing the Palace and surrounding court environs. Throughout the evening, the upper level is used as a transverse for all kinds of action and stage business. By far the most haunting is when the Duchess’s “Echo” warns Antonio of imminent personal danger. Webster composed this scene with artful ambiguity, and Berger stages the Duchess-Echo, not only as an acoustic phenomenon, but with a visual effect that can send goosebumps down your spine.
Expect some time-bending in this Jacobean work. Guns will be wielded about, and faux gunshots fired; many characters will be holding flashlights to penetrate the inky-black darkness onstage in Act Two. And though these contemporary touches seemed gimmicky at times, it certainly highlighted the idea that demonic forces were afoot.
The play sees the human condition as depraved and deeply tragic. But the Duchess shines as a pearl in a world of hypocrites, class-conscious/power-hungry males, and sexually-repressed royals. True, the Duchess’s virtue doesn’t save her. But she still wins our admiration for her boldness and genuine love of Antonio.
The acting is uniformly strong with no weak link. Ferdinand, the unhinged lycanthrope, is played by the superb Gareth Saxe; the sleazy Cardinal is convincingly embodied by Patrick Page; Bosola is the superb Matthew Rauch. The Duchess herself is impersonated by the statuesque Christina Rouner, who looks every inch a royal regent. Playing opposite her is the attractive and talented Matthew Greer.
As staged by the Red Bull Theater Company, The Duchess of Malfi is a streamlined production with contemporary edge. By all means, go to this production before it shutters on March 14th. Even if you swear you hate period plays, this Duchess is to die for.
At Theatre of St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street.
Tickets are $60 (Premium Seating is $80).
Phone 212/352-3101 or visit www.redbulltheater.com
Through March 14t