Having said that, the opening of the play had me worried, because it all felt a little stilted - far too much enunciation and not enough performance. However, everything settled, including my ear for the Jacobean language, within about five minutes and I began to enjoy the play.
There is no subtlety in this play, the characters are full on all the time, from the love-lost Duchess to her conniving brothers, Duke Ferdinand and The Cardinal. The standout performance for me was in fact David Dawson as Ferdinand. He was scheming and slightly mad, slipping into completely mad as the play proceeds and Dawson was, at times, a stunning performer to watch.
I'm now going to dip into the plot, so if you don't want to know what happens, don't reader any further!
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Ferdinand is the despot in the Duchess' life, he wishes to control her, bidding her never take another husband following the death of her first husband, claiming piety and good standing, but all the while there is a lecherous jealousy to his proclamations. He is the Duchess' twin and he would possess her if he could. Dawson and Arterton, brother and sister, play off each other well, their scenes are intense and the tension comes off them in waves.
Gemma Arterton plays the Duchess with grace and passion. You know she is doomed from the moment she professes her love for Antonio and makes him her secret husband, but I still found myself wishing her joy and hoping the tragedy would not come about.
While Ferdinand is the obvious threat, played to perfection, behind him is The Cardinal, schemer of schemes and a creature who has no qualms about taking his own mistress even as he bids his sister remain chaste and alone. The Cardinal is actually a source of amusement in the second half, amid all the murder, as he wrestles with a guilty conscience about having his own sister murdered. He seems genuinely perplexed by it and James Garnon plays this sociopathic man with glee, his matter-of-factness as he poisons his mistress, because he has told her the secret of the Duchess' murder, is chilling and yet also absurd.
And then there is Bosola, played by Sean Gilder, betrayer of all in the end, but sympathetic catspaw nonetheless. He commits the majority of the murders, some at the behest of his masters, some under his own direction, and yet Bosola is the nearest to a hero this play has. He sees the machinations, he calls the other characters out on their behaviour, and still he murders for them - a very strange mix, that Gilder does well to make convincing.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this performance. The candlelight made it unusual, the acting drew me in, and I would go watch it again in a heartbeat!
Hi, stopping by on my way through the A to Z Challenge list.
ReplyDeleteI studied The Duchess of Malfi with the Open University a couple of years ago for a literature course and I really enjoyed it. I'd have loved to have seen it performed 'live', particularly in that sort of atmosphere. I think you get so much more out of hearing the words performed rather than just reading them on a page. :-)
Yes, I know what you mean, I never studies The Duchess of Malfi, but I had studies The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth before I saw them, and reading the words was a completely different experience to watching them performed. It became very clear that plays are written to be performed and that the words on the page didn't do themselves justice until put into that context - quite to opposite from prose, which can often be lost when it is adapted for performance.
DeleteAs a writer, it makes me aware of how different a talent writing spoken words is to writing prose.
Thank you for stopping by, BTW - I just popped by your blog as well. Loved the Wordless Wednesday image.
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