Duchess of Malfi

Webster’s Jacobean drama is typically inspired by a true story and is a very complex and grim play. The tale of the murder of the Duchess and her family after her secret marriage to a courtier, to protect title and property, reveals high levels of religious and political corruption and misdeeds. The characters are very multifaceted, and the story is quite convoluted making the text very challenging to stage.

Arrant Knaves Theatre Company makes a commendable effort to bring this story to life and there are many aspects of the production that are quite strong. The stage design is very clever and evocative. It allows for both large scale action and intimate exchanges to occur in an appropriate and intriguing context. The costuming is intricate and detailed and often involves grandeur and scale. The textured fabrics and the flair in the design captures the often-duplicitous nature of the characters well. This allows the performers to have quite a commanding presence on stage. Some of the performances are quite strong and capture the range and extreme of emotions that the text entails.

However, the performances are uneven, and the register or tone of the play appears somewhat undecided. The larger-than-life nature of the characters and the story is dealt with mostly in a serious and dramatic light yet there are moments when the play almost wishes to shift into parody and exaggeration, but this is a very fine and delicate line to tread on stage. As an ensemble these points and aspects of the play need greater clarity. The lighting is somewhat inconsistent, and the sounds or music tends to suggest murder mystery where there is none. The deadly and sinister intentions of the Duchess’s malevolent brothers is nothing short of diabolic and the drama of this reality requires stronger performances all round. 

There are moments when this is achieved. Christina Costigan provides a formidable performance as Duchess and conveys her fiery independence well. The scenes which see Ferdinand (Justin Harris-Parslow) descend into madness are handled with good intensity, when Bosola (Tom Bradley) is repentant this is rendered palpable, and The Cardinal (Bruce Langdon) is frightening when he is scheming. Given the length of the play such moments need to be sustained more and need to be more consistently delivered. Antonio (Christien Dariol) is a key figure in this story but his appeal to the Duchess needs more shape and explanation. There are also times when the delivery of lines needs to be more audible and connected to the audience. This is especially important given the rich and grandiose nature of the language.

The venue for this play is well chosen and adds to the ethereal atmosphere of the play. This is a show with some great potential and some very admirable work in its endeavour to stage such a demanding play. Greater refinement in the staging and the performances could make this a very successful production. 

Patricia Di Risio 

Images: Daniel Rabin Photography