At Fluellen Theatre |
| Fluellen Theatre Company- The Duchess of Malfi , Swansea Grand Theatre , March 19, 2004 |
| "The Duchess of Malfi" is a truly dark work. It is a play of very little light but a lot of shade. And it needs a particularly talented cast and director to get the best out its grim and unredeeming view of humanity. In the production by Fluellen Theatre Company at the Grand Theatre Arts Wing in Swansea it got just that. Director Peter Richards cleverly used the device of setting the play in a mental hospital with the patients putting on "The Duchess of Malfi" by John Webster. Given the play`s themes of madness and confinement this was as logical as it was effective. Using virtually no set, few props, masks and basic costumes what followed was a Brechtian production of the finest order. The uniformly excellent cast took the joint responsibility for telling the story in which the labyrinthine plot for once came out crystal clear. It was a harrowing, exciting and totally absorbing production. The lighting, from a sadly uncredited lighting designer, was very effective with a particularly gasp-making effect to accompany the scene in which the madmen are let loose in the Duchess`s room. In such an excellent ensemble it would probably be invidious to single out any individual performance but Bethan Thomas`s Duchess was particularly fine. Her passion for her lover Antonio (well played by Rob Statham) entirely believable, and her fortitude and strength of character in the latter moments of her life totally convincing. Her line "I am the Duchess of Malfi still!" brought a genuine tear to the eye. David Norton deserves praise, too, for the difficult role of Ferdinand. It is hard to play psychopaths (particularly ones who think themselves werewolves!) but the fact that the character was so believable says much for the actor`s skill. One minor criticism was the decision to run the play without an interval. I understand that given the production`s structure it would have been difficult to include an interval, but 2-hours + is a long time, absorbing though the show was. A really fine production, then, and one that will undoubtedly be of great use and enlightenment to the many schoolchildren in the audience. If only I had had such help when I was struggling with my exams! Bravo Fluellen Theatre Company! |
Reviewed by: Charles Walker |
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