Good Views, Bad Views

Six reviews have come in so far. Five of them give The Duchess of Malfi three or four stars or "recommended" or are otherwise positive. One is relentlessly negative. I'll come back to that in the next post. My priority now, of course, is to satisfy the egoist in me by focusing on the ensemble of three of which I am a member.

We have been lucky. While some of the other players have come in for mixed reviews, "the looming trio of Martin Foreman, Phil Gerrard and Alex Reece, who act as an array of general henchmen" (The Stage), have received nothing but praise. According to The Stage, "All three are suitably unnerving, and at times completely terrifying." ThePublicReviews.com says we "make the flesh creep as the Cardinal’s instruments of violence", while Playstosee.com adds we "manage to be as disturbing as any agents in a totalitarian state".

That other actors have been praised by some reviewers and slated by others, and the production itself is seen as either powerful or flawed, reflects the nature of the play - its unrelenting darkness and descent into madness, murder and mayhem. These are strong characters propelled by strong emotions, often unlikeable, presented at a time when an unruly audience expected spectacle and were unconcerned by inconsistencies in plot and action. No modern production can remain true to the spirit of the play and satisfy all the expectations of a disparate group of people four hundred years after it was first performed.

Not every reviewer has understood this conflict and this is reflected in the pieces they write. Most noticeable are strong reactions to the women's roles, as some reviewers confuse attitudes today with attitudes in the early seventeenth century. The result is that all three actresses - Emma Grace Arends (Cariola), Alice de Sousa (the Duchess) and Tanya Winsor (Julia, pictured with Damian Quinn as Bosola; photo by Robert Gooch) - are praised by some and condemned by others for their depictions of female sexuality.

There are other areas of disagreement that I will not go into. (If you are in the mood, you can read all the reviews, collected here.) I would not argue that the production is perfect or that every cast member has reached the pinnacle of his / her ability, but I am proud to be part of a team that has put together a strong production that grips the attention from beginning to end and which most critics agree, despite some reservations, is well worth seeing.

At the end of the day - both literally and metaphorically - the final judgement lies in the hands - again both literally and metaphorically - not of the reviewers, but of the audience. And each night, all of us in the cast have been gratified by the genuine applause from those members of the public who have made the effort to come and see us. Come and judge for yourselves.