The bard celebrates two other fine practitioners of the art, and laments a lost brewer
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The Duchess of Malfi, Almeida Theatre London
Feminist intent to the fore in striking interpretation of dark drama
MESMERISING: Lydia Wilson with Leo Bill
[Marc Brenner]
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CHRIS SEARLE recommends a work of love and deep admiration for a great musician
IN THIS 1614 revenge tragedy by John Webster, the widowed Duchess of Malfi (a youthful Lydia Wilson) secretly remarries, against her brothers’ wishes. Her spouse, Antonio, is the steward of her household and not of equal social status.
Suspecting something is going on, her brothers send Bosola (Leo Bill) to spy on her. Inevitably, events spiral bloodily out of control.
Vulnerable, fiercely loving, highly intelligent and otherworldly, the mesmerising Wilson is very much at the heart of a production in which director Rebecca Fracknell foregrounds Webster’s female characters, with waiting woman Cariola — given an emotionally intense performance from Ioanna Kimbook — very much in prominence as part of the family.
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