Theatre 2017: Review Eight - The White Devil

The White Devil, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare's Globe, London. February 2017.

The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse really is the perfect place to see these wonderful Jacobean revenge tragedies. The eerie lighting really does let the evil of the plots shine through.

The White Devil was wonderfully nasty (in the best way) within this setting. The playhouse was dimly lit at the start and at first it was hard to work out who all of the characters were but as more candles were lit it became clearer to work out who was who and then the absurdity and evil really shone through, and as the play drew to a close the candles were put out and the room grew darker as the madness drew to a close. I don't think that the candles have been used to greater effect in anything I've seen in this location.

Vittoria is unhappily married - her family arranged this to save their own reputation and finances - and pursued by Bracciano who seems to love her despite being married himself.  We also have a scheming brother who will do anything, including pimp his sister, to advance his position, a disgraced Duke who will do anything to get back into the good books and then there's the corrupt cardinal and his lackey.

It is a revenge tragedy so no spoiler to say that by the end of the play the stage is littered with corpses - all of whom the audience doesn't really grieve over. And some of the deaths are wonderfully staged and incredibly amusing to watch. At the start I was concerned that the darkness of the plot wouldn't emerge as there seemed to be much overplaying of the crude humour but, like the lighting, this all just helped to show the true nature of the characters.

Since coming out of the Playhouse I've been discussing the play on and off with Rebecca and the Upstart Wren and like the best things I am liking it more and more.  As I said there are no characters that you admire wholeheartedly but unlike so many plays from this era I find Vittoria to be a believable and strong female lead. She is manipulated and used by all around her and yet throughout this production she remains strong and dignified, her crime is to fall in love with a man who is not her husband and then be caught up entirely in the wider politics of the time.

Unlike Rebecca I didn't dislike Bracciano completely, he is an out and out cad but he is also being manipulated by forces that he doesn't quite appreciate. His fickleness was played superbly and in the end he did seem to love Vittoria, however short their union was!

The true villain for me was Flamenio who had no care for anyone and would do anything to get what he wanted, the way he was played on stage actually made my skin crawl slightly.

On reading the programme on the train home I've learned that this production has cut text from the original and reassigned lines so I am now off to read Webster's original and see how it compares...

Theatre 2014: Review Two

The Duchess of Malfi, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London. January 2014

I've been excited about this play for a long time, and even more so since I have been studying the theatres of the Jacobean era and first of all let me say that this didn't disappoint.

Over the past few years I've seen the outside of the new Playhouse take shape on visits to the Globe and I've also been following in the interior build thanks to the photos posted by The Globe on their website. A quick Google search shows the stages of the build and it has to be said that the CGI projections of what the finished building looked like were accurate but don't do it justice.

Inside it is like travelling in time (except thankfully without the aromas!) the theatre is all made of wood and lit with beeswax candles that are on movable chandeliers as well as some fixed candle sticks on the pillars.  Actors also carry candlesticks with them as they move about the space. The candles are also lit and extinguished throughout the performance so there is the lovely smell of wax and smoke at times too!

Now the play. I saw the Duchess of Malfi in 2012 and liked it very much, although looking back now I remember incidents and the Duchess clearly but the rest of the play and the actors have faded completely from my memory.
The version at the SWP managed to be physically lighter than the version I saw before, despite using no modern lighting. This made the impact of the darker scenes greater as you really noticed when the mood changed, it also meant that the characters themselves were more visible and I found all of the roles easy to distinguish and keep track of. Seeing the actors all of the time also meant that I got into the rhythm much quicker.
The flickering light and small space made the play feel very claustrophobic (in the right way) as an audience member you were complicit in the action and could see every small flicker of emotion on the characters' faces.

The horror scene however wasn't as effective in this version, I had forgotten when it occurred in the play but just didn't buy into the scene at all. However I did have many more goosebumps running up and down my arms throughout the play and it was scarier over all.

This version also lost a lot of the carnality I remember from the version at the Old Vic, however this did mean that we saw the action unfold rather than have it told to us.  Ferdinand's unhealthy obsession with his sister and descent into madness were much clearer in this version, and thoroughly creepy.

It was nice to see some of the main Globe's actors in a smaller space, and also to see similar styles of theatre from the open air stage scaled down but still visible in the new space.

However the new theatre isn't without problems, it feels cramped even after making use of the cloakroom. Leg room is an issue and Mr Norfolkbookworm with his long thigh bones was very uncomfortable. The Globe have always said that no seat in either of their Playhouses has a totally unrestricted view of the stage this is more true in the indoor theatre than ever. We had a very good view of the stage from our favourite area at the back of the Upper Gallery but even leaning forward we couldn't see the pit (unlike at the outdoor theatre) and seeing as the standing spots are twice the price of the Groundling area (listed on line as having the best view for only £5) the view from them appeared to be dreadful.

None of this has put me off, I'm going back in about 6 weeks to see the next Jacobean play performed. I loved the play and the playhouse but with a few reservations about the seating.

This images from Reuters gives a feel for the interior...

Theatrical Interlude 6 (2012)

The Duchess of Malfi, The Old Vic, May 2012

My theatre going friend and I ventured south of the river this time to the incredible Old Vic Theatre.

Before I even talk about the production I need a moment or two to rave about the venue - I found the Old Vic to be a wonderful example of how you can bring a traditional building up to date but at the same time lose nothing of the original character.  Unlike the Vaudeville Theatre from a few weeks ago this building is light and airy, comfortable and most important has plenty of ladies loos!  In addition to this while the auditorium still feels like a traditional Victorian theatre it isn't at all thread bare or dated, plus - and this was a bonus on an surprisingly sticky May day - it has wonderfully efficient air conditioning.  Much of this is I am sure due to the input from Kevin Spacey who was appointed artistic director in 2003.

Now the play...

This was another one that I knew nothing about before the performance except that it was written after Shakespeare but before the Civil War.  John Webster appears as a young boy in the film Shakespeare in Love but there my knowledge stopped!

I was sucked in from curtain up, the speech was easier to follow than that of Shakespeare but I still needed a few moments to fully get my ear in tune but then the plot and the acting carried me though and I felt I was living the drama not watching a play.

The basic plot is that the Duchess of Malfi has been left a rich widow and her unscrupulous (and increasingly unhinged) brothers don't want her to marry again as they will then not see any of this money.  The Duchess however has a mind of her own and does remarry for love, but shock horror he is from a much lower class than her.  Their happy life comes to an end when her brothers find out about the marriage and subsequent children.

I think we counted 9 murders, 2 fake corpses and a severed hand so this play is not for the faint hearted!

I saw the actress playing the Duchess last summer at The Globe and thought she stole the show there and the same can be said of her performance here, but again she was supported by a strong cast and they convinced me that they really were feeling every emotion.

The setting was quite dark, very much like the theatres of Webster's time I suppose. While modern lights were used on stage actors carried candles a great deal of the time and it was all very atmospheric, including one scene which took place in pitch blackness - even the emergency exit lights were covered for it.

Reviews online seem mixed for this play - critics liked it but bloggers haven't been so keen.  I'm on the side of the critics. I thought it was fabulous and I will be looking at the listings for The Old Vic a lot more often now as well as following Eve Best's career closely.