Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Revenge tragedy for kids: The Duchess [of Malfi], at Trafalgar Theatre, reviewed

Plus: a schematic new play about the Jews at Marylebone Theatre, and a gutsy topical drama at the Cockpit

Back to the drawing board: Jodie Whittaker as the Duchess and Rory Fleck Byrneas Ferdinand in Zinnie Harris’s The Duchess [of Malfi] [Marc Brenner] 
issue 26 October 2024
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  • The Duchess [of Malfi]

    Trafalgar Theatre, until 20 December

  • What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank

    Marylebone Theatre, until 23 November

  • Knife on the Table

    The Cockpit

The Duchess [of Malfi] has been partially updated by Zinnie Harris in a puzzling modern-dress production. The set by Tom Piper resembles a concrete bunker in an abandoned apartment block and Ben Ormerod’s lighting throws weird shadows across the playing area, which seems to consist mostly of discarded plywood sheets. It feels like a scout-hut production on a micro-budget.

The second act involves gory scenes of homicidal violence staged with amusingly inept special effects

Jodie Whittaker stars as the lustful Duchess whose destiny lies in the hands of her elder brother, the Cardinal, played by the entertaining Paul Ready. Whittaker’s role is clumsily arranged within the play and she spends a lot of time off-stage. And her character lacks emotional coherence. In scene one, she secretly marries her steward, Antonio, even though she enjoys bullying and humiliating him in public. Later she professes her undying love for him. Which is it?

Antonio (Joel Fry) seems an odd sort of heart-throb.

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