Tonight’s show is The Duchess (of Malfi) at the Trafalgar Theatre. This is my first show at this space since it was refurbished during COVID. I remember seeing lots of shows in the previous theatre spaces of Trafalgar Studios one and two. So was excited to see the newly combined much larger space.
The show in question opened on 5th October 2024 and is scheduled to close on 20th December, with a running time of two hours and thirty minutes. This production is an adaptation of John Webster original play “The Duchess of Malfi” from the 17th century. This particular production is adapted and directed by Zinnie Harris.
As I took my seat in the stalls of this fully redeveloped theatre in row C seat 12 I was intrigued to see how this piece of drama has been adapted for a modern stage, more on my feelings of that later. The theatre refurbishment itself is well done. It is a unique feeling for me to be able to enter a London theatre space for the first time and for it all to be new. I am personally not sure if I like such a dark design everywhere in the auditorium. But it does seem a nice way to modernize a classic theatre space. I was surprised with quite how close this seat was to the stage hence the slight fish eye lens on the image above as otherwise on camera not the whole set would be visible. However from viewpoint it was very easy to see the whole set and stage.
Now for a very brief synopsis for those like me who are not familiar with the original text. We meet a widowed Duchess (Jodie Whittaker) and her twin brother Ferdinand (Rory Fleck Byrne) and their brother the cardinal (Paul Ready). We learn very quickly of the love and bedroom marriage of the duchess and her book keeper Antonio (Joel Fry) officiated by the maid Cariola (Matti Houghton). The marriage leads to the birth of twins much to the disgust of he duchess brother. During the first at we are introduced with name projection to the remaining characters which include the horse hand Bosola (Jude Owusu). Antonio friend Delio (Hubert Burton) and his wife Julia (Elizabeth Ayodele) who is becomes the mistress under some duress to the cardinal. Act two descends into madness quite literally for some of the characters. As the duchess is tortured within her basement by Ferdinand. This progresses into a Shakespearean tragedy esc second half in which the majority of the characters are killed off all in front of the audience, Creating some of the most goriest scenes in theatre I have seen. With one traumatic murder after another. Unlike the more Shakespearean writing instead of the murder being implied or symbolized the audience have to whiteness it first hand live on stage.
The writing and whole show is trying to be a modernization of a classic drama piece from the 17th century. As a result it uses mostly old style English /Shakespeare inspired script. However occasionally slips in the odd modern day phase or slang. I see what Zinnie Harris is attempting here but it doesn’t ever hit the mark. The attempt to modernize the production is not just in the script but also within some of the theatrical embellishments that are used. Like the use of some characters singing into full on stage microphones during the first act. Once again I see the attempt however this just seems to be out of place and random within the scene instead of modernizing it. I am huge fan of the odd song within a straight play however this was not seamless enough and just stood out and felt random. The use of microphones during the second act for the dead acting to almost haunt the still alive characters was well done and did to some degree feel like it worked modernizing play but this was not enough on its own. The side stories around the the remaining characters also seemed more random than useful for enhancing the story. I could see how they were trying to portray powerful women though the duchess and maid but then equaling it with the physical power of the men. However again the way these was portrayed was not seemless enough for a modernisation of the classic text.
The gore of the second act just felt like he story telling had given up and instead of moving the story on. The shock factor of so many brutal murders happening live on stage seemed t be the whole point of the second act.
Set, good use of stairs and floating walkway during the first act allowed actors to enter the scene very smoothly and give that third dimension to the staging. The manipulation of the set to alter the stairs for a ladder and the production of a large cube to replace the basement for the torture was very good. The closing of the slits on the back way during the second act to depict the basement and removing any “natural” light was a good symbolic gesture. Use of curtain and sliding rails for scene changes were a nice way to keep the simple set basic without overwhelming it. Again a nod to the modernization which within the set design I think did kind of work and the promised has a great discussion with the set designer about how this was completed.
The use of props where effectively used to depict scene changes with most being able to be slide on from stage right and left and the large items such as the bed in the first act and then the basement “prison cell” in the second act being pulled from back stage of center stage. The use of projection during the torture scene to open act two was very effective and with the bull horn and sudden light changes really did make you sympathize with the duchess during these scenes. After the large use basement prison is moved back stage a large section of the back wall remains exposures with no set design and the raw backstage elements being shown. Again another attempted of modernization which kind of worked but again didn’t add to the scene.
The lighting was used a few times troughout the production to dramatically change the dynamic of the scene. It was also very well used during the second act to allow the dead characters to move around in a ghost like movement. The bright sunshine style lighting was well used to portray the very limited glimmer of hopes that occurred during the show mostly used around the children.
The use of lighting and general stage production was impressive especially during all the murder scenes. Which included fighting, suffocation, and lots and lots of blood splatter everywhere. Along with the sudden appearance of blood when not expected like from the bath and from body which were not shot This was an effective way to symbolize the guilt the murder was facing. At one point the blood splatter was so intense it unintentionally hit some of the front row. All this stage production was very impressive for a theatre fan.
Now to mention the star of the show and who was used to heavily it advertise the production. It was Jodie Whittaker first time on a London stage in over ten years since her role in Antigone at the NT. Her performance as the Duchess did not disappoint at all. The passion shown through the production was brilliant. At some points you could see the literal tears or turmoil in her eyes, as I said the seat was very close. I did at some point her accent dropping and her natural accent coming through. I was unsure weather this was intentional or not. As it seemed to suit the mix of old English with then modern slang and phrases.
Rory Fleck Byrne role as Ferdinand did not come into its own until the second act. While the first act was him working well opposite Paul Ready. The madness that Ferdinand slowly descended into from the start of act two during the torture scene to the full breakdown toward the end. Was brilliantly acted and the intensity matched the tension of the final crazed murder scenes.
As mentioned Paul Ready played the cardinal and was very well done. I had only seen Paul on screen in the role of Kevin in BBC`s “Motherland”. Which is a polar opposite character and role to this character. It’s already great to see an actor be able to portray such polar opposite characters however to portray this oppose role on stage, is really impressive and shows his true acting credentials.
Another stand out performer for me was Jude Owusu in his portrayal as Bosola. Who developed from a vulnerable horse hand to the key murder during the second act. His ability to portray this same character but very differently as the play progress was very good. He did perform a few audience side monologues which Gaian made gave the impression of more traditional Shakespearean type theatre. Even though they did once again seem a bit out of place to the whole plot. This is not a reflection on his performance as they were performed very well just the structure just seemed a bit random and out of place.
Another performer and role which really impressed me was Joel Fry portrayal of Antonio. I really liked his ability to become over powered and controlled by the Duchess in the first act. Which added to highlighting the strong characters of the duchess and the maid Cariola (Matti Houghton). But was also able to show the strength determination of a husband and father who literally fights for his wife and family in the second act.
The last person I am to mention is Hannah Visocchi who played “The singer” who did exactly this. During the first act this role was just supporting with a guitar the random singing that occurred . However was used much more effectively during the second act as her singing was perfectly haunting during the “ghost” type scenes one allowing the murder victims to rise form their death and move around the stage. The whole role seemed o have been designed or the second act then shoe horned into the first.
2 out of 5 stars an attempt at modernizing a 17th century piece of text. Which doesn’t quite hit the mark as it gets confused between traditional and modern English language. Saved slightly by Jodie performance and the theatrical skill of the many unnecessary and gory on stage murders.
Further information about this show and the theatre space in general can can be found the Trafalgar website
A SPURDLE reviews 