Tag Archives: Matti Houghton

“The Duchess [of Malfi]” at the Trafalgar Theatre

It’s hard to add to a Jacobean tragedy – they are already… extra. Zinnie Harris, who has adapted and directed John Webster’s revenge play, gives it a good go. There are flaws here, but also lots of ideas. It’s a blunt, brisk affair, but always interesting.

Webster took a character as his title, and the production boasts a star in the lead. Jodie Whittaker, playing the recently widowed noblewoman who falls in love with her steward, is great and clearly relishes the show’s intensity.

Harris, however, focuses on her ensemble and the result is mixed. Decisions will fascinate those that know the original play – who kills who is tweaked – but run the danger of being confusing. Harris senses the problem and projects character names on to the stage. This help is welcome, but it feels as if the action is being set up for too long. There are benefits to giving each character their due. The theme of servitude comes into focus: the hired killer, Bosola, and Cariola, the maid, are highlighted and Jude Owusu and Matti Houghton, who take these roles, really shine. Romance also does well: Joel Fry’s Antonio (another servant) is appealing and is given more to do than in the original.

The cutesy chemistry between Whittaker and Fry is odd, but effective. We feel for both when it comes to their separation. As for the punishment the Duchess suffers – for her secret marriage and children – the production is appropriately horrific, albeit effortful. Of course, scenes of torture are going to be difficult to watch. But surely discomfort needn’t come from the sound design. When the Duchess is deprived of sleep by the playing of loud noise, the production becomes – literally – painful.

Things get better. Bringing the Duchess, and other characters who suffer a similar fate, back the stage as ghosts is a great move – suitably spooky and leading to more fine moments from Whittaker. The trouble is that your ears might still be ringing.

Not all of the production’s problems down to Harris. Updating the language to use a lot of expletives is brave and forceful. It’s a shame it results in a lot of giggles from the audience. But the biggest issue is Webster’s villains – the Duchess’ brothers. Paul Ready, as the Cardinal, is effectively repulsive (and the twist on the murder of his mistress a stroke of genius). But emphasising the character’s knowing hypocrisy makes the role flat. It’s even worse for Ferdinand, who is simply a psychopath. Rory Fleck Byrne is good in the role (he is genuinely scary) but there’s too little descent into madness and the insanity is extravagant. With so many changes to the play, why keep the idea of him being a werewolf? Of course, it’s tough to take the brothers’ warped justifications and outrage over their sister seriously. But Harris doesn’t even allow us to entertain their reasoning and loses too much tension as a result.

Until 20 December 2024

www.theduchessplay.com

Photo by Marc Brenner

“Ditch” at the Old Vic Tunnels

As The London Magazine’s resident theatre mole, your intrepid reviewer went subterranean to visit The Old Vic Tunnels for Beth Steel’s apocalyptic new play Ditch.

Located beneath Waterloo station and approached along a depressing back street, the venue is actually a happy compromise away from the more adventurous site-specific locations that can be something of an ordeal. It still gets cold and it smells a bit but, with comfy seats donated by Banksy and a bar that boasts no fewer than four designers, it is achingly cool and London’s most exciting new theatrical space.

More importantly, the creative team behind Ditch have used the venue well. Installations surround the auditorium. Plant-covered mill wheels are atmospherically lit and a dismembered tree hovers, upside down, over a bright red circle of cloth. It’s great scene setting and appropriate for the dystopian scenario that unfolds.

Although Ditch is set in the countryside and much of the action takes place out of doors, the survivor’s predicament is perfectly reflected by the large design team headed by Takis. Superb lighting and sound by Matt Prentice and Christopher Shutt add to constructing this frightening world. Here, while ‘security’ forces live in isolation with their housekeepers and search out ‘illegals’, there are some captivating moments – the sighting of a stag in the mist or the creation of a sunset that subtly suggests an atomic cloud.

There’s some superb acting as well. Sam Hazeldine plays the foul-mouthed Turner, dedicated to his soldier’s life with edgy brutality. Danny Webb is his commander, Burns, and convinces as a thoughtful, broken man who can remember what civilisation used to be like. Fighting off memories of the past as a strategy to survive is Dearbhla Molloy’s formidable Mrs Peel. This is a wonderful performance, as she looks after the men and herself with humorous, steely determination. Her other charge is the young Megan (Matti Houghton) who gives a touching portrayal full of small rebellions and a quest for love with spirited new recruit James (Gethin Anthony).

But what of the play itself? Steel has set out a standard science-fiction scenario with the odd little tactic of leaving out all the details. We are never told what has happened to the world and given next to no back-story for the characters. Avoiding specifics deprives us of questioning events or degenerating into adolescent paranoia. I suspect the idea is to focus instead on the characters’ reactions and some abstract ideas about the environment. This isn’t a trade off worth paying. Perversely, Steel ignores her own lesson that people can live in the moment and snatch joy in the worst of times to persist in a vision of the future both bleak and vague.

Until 26 June 2010

www.theoldvictheatre.com

Photo by William Knight

Written 21 May 2010 for The London Magazine