The Duchess of Malfi

Ladies go into frightful spasms as they're poisoned or strangled. Infants have their heads snapped off or smashed against a wall. Various guys are dispatched in frenzied fighting. It's all part of the fun served up with lip-smacking relish by director Jesse Berger in his adaptation of John Webster's "The Duchess of Malfi." The play's a leading example of the macabre tragedies that marked English theater during the reign of King James I in the early 1600s. They were the forerunners of today's slasher flicks, but, along with the gore, Webster provides characters of swirling emotionality and vibrant if often dense poetic language. Berger's work here shows an appreciation of these elements and the ability to whip them into a tasty stew. Webster's credibility-straining plot turns—plus the plethora of similes and metaphors and the rare overly showy directorial flourish—make it sometimes difficult to digest. But it's still a grand theatrical meal.

The titular duchess is a widow who secretly remarries in defiance of her two brothers, the Cardinal of Aragon and Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria. For their own diabolic reasons, both are set against her marrying anyone. Compounding her defiance, the duchess' new husband—the steward of her household—is below her rank. When the brothers learn of this, hell breaks loose.

Berger has assembled a mostly strong cast. Top honors go to Gareth Saxe, whose intense Ferdinand suggests more than brotherly love for his sister, and Matthew Rauch as Bosola, the servant hired by the brothers to keep an eye on the duchess, eventually betraying her. Rauch brings to the proceedings a welcome empathetic humanity as his inherent compassion battles with his hunger for financial reward. His howling grief over the fate of the duchess is stunning. Christina Rouner maintains the title character's nobility through her many moods, from flirtatious lover to mad woman to resigned victim. As the cardinal, Patrick Page personifies smug evil.

Beowulf Boritt's set vibrates with foreboding, swathed at first in blood-red draping, collapsing at midpoint to reveal a bleak maze of scaffolding. Jared B. Leese's costumes, while contemporary, artfully help the characters establish their status in this fetid and turbulent society.


Presented by Red Bull Theater at the Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 W. 46th St., NYC. Feb. 27–March 28. Tue. and Wed., 7 p.m.; Thu. and Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.redbulltheater.com. Casting by Stuart Howard.