The Revenger’s Tragedy

This astonishing play was first performed in 1606, the same year as Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It is a Jacobean Revenge tragedy, a vivid and violent depiction of ambition, hatred, lust and envy pervading an Italian court. It is satirical and cynical, which is evidently typical of Jacobean tragedies. Although it fell out of favour before the restoration of theatre in the 1660s, it has come back into favour in the 20th/21st centuries – does that reflect our modern times? Pranksters chose to perform this fast-paced, action-packed thriller in the stunning location of Guildford’s castle keep – even just sitting in there on a glorious summer evening, admiring the stonework arches, staircases and walls was a delight, and prepared us for this journey back through the centuries. It was a treat to be able to enjoy this rarely performed play here in Guildford. Menacing, perturbing, bizarre, hectic, vicious and funny too, the superb cast whizzed us through, and provided an exhilarating evening’s theatre.

This play is full of brothers, so many brothers, and sons, mothers and daughters. It took quite a time to fathom out who was related to whom, and in what way. The twists and turns of the plot were very complicated, I would have appreciated some kind of synopsis in the programme, no matter how brief. I found myself constantly referring to the cast list in the first half, desperate to know what the relationships between the characters were. And then of course there was the fact that the main man, Vindice, the revenger, was also, for a good amount of time, disguised as Piato, in order to better effect his revenge. The only one I was clear about was the bastard – there was only one of him!

There was one central entrance to the keep, a doorway to the right with steps leading upwards off to the left, and a fireplace alcove on the right-hand wall, in front of which was placed a rack of garments which allowed people to hide there.  A tailor’s dummy played an important role in the second half. A skull and many small daggers were important props. The audience were placed around two sides of the square performance space, creating an intimate atmosphere.

Costumes were fabulous. Vindice looked suitably menacing in the Pranksters well-used long black leather coat. When disguised as Piato, the coat was gone, he wore a red fedora hat, red and orange scarf, braces, and of course shades. The Duke looked very regal in a fine long black and gold coat. His son, Lussurioso, wore a wonderful ¾ length wine-red coat. Spurio, the bastard, had a patterned gold waistcoat. The Duchess looked splendid in a black voile skirt, long red gloves and shawl, and red and black bustier, which she used to great effect to seduce her husband’s bastard son. The Duchess’ sons, Ambitioso and Supervacuo, were nattily dressed in striped or checked trousers, waistcoats and bowler hats. Their brother Junior, in an orange boiler suit – he was in prison.

Vindice’s brother, Hippolito, was in formal black tailcoat (as were many of the other nobles of the court). Gratiana, their mother, wore a charming long black sparkly tunic thing over her skirt. Her daughter, Castiza, looked suitably chaste in the first half, until she was transformed into a wild child in provocative skirt and top, black tights, long boots in the second half.

What a comprehensive list of the costumes! But I was so glad I had taken note of them, as it was so helpful in distinguishing the characters in that confusing first section of the first half!

Let me now turn to the production itself. First of all, let me say how well-cast this production was. Joe Hall was in his element as Vindice, out to revenge his lady who had been poisoned by the lustful old Duke, a fine performance full of energy from him. Said Duke was a good performance, as always, by Phil Snell, and his rather disdainful second wife, the Duchess, was played well too by Charlotte Lamb – no love match there, as far as she was concerned!

This was a play of plots. The first plotter was Lussurioso, the Duke’s son and heir from his first marriage. He aimed to seduce a young lady he’d espied, and needed an agent to set this meeting up. Vindice jumped at the chance, hoping thus to get nearer the Duke for his revenge, so disguised himself as Piato, a ‘procurer’ or pimp. His tragedy was that the desired young person was his own sister, Castiza, young and innocent, and played with charm by Anjali Taylor. He decided though to test his sister and his mother as to their morals. His sister was steadfast. However his mother Gratiana, (Charlotte Lamb again, cast illness had forced the doubling up of some roles, which did not detract in any way from the success of the production, the different costumes and hairdo delineated the characters clearly) WAS tempted by the gold offered, and the social advancement this liaison would bring, but at Castiza’s horrified reaction, came to her senses, and turned down the tempting gold. Her daughter, though, incensed at the very thought that her mother should have been tempted to ‘sell’ her, later appeared provocatively dressed and danced around very alluringly, to her mother’s dismay!

There were imprisonments, releases, executions, threatened and carried out on the wrong person, infidelity, murder plots, all so terribly convoluted. There seemed to be a great many guards and courtiers rushing about. But this crazy play was carried off with such skill, energy and aplomb by this wonderful group of actors, and so finely directed by Jennifer Haynes, that we were carried along as if on a speedboat through to its astonishing climax, where almost all seemed to be dead or about to die!

Sam Gould made a fine Lussurioso, crafty and somewhat unctuous. Alice Gray and Leon Munns were delicious as the Duchess’s rather creepy sons – I loved their prowling about to a well-known theme from a detective film.

Part of Vindice’s revenge on the Duke, as he lay dying, was to enable him to see his wife seducing his bastard son. Dean Brewer was this son, Spurio, a small part but well played, who was seduced by the Duchess after the Duke refused to release her 3rd son from prison (on suspicion of rape). Spurio seemed not too sure about this but decided to risk it anyway.

Alex Healy played Vindice’s brother, Hippolito, a courtier, a reluctant accomplice in Vindice’s murder plot, with a good lot of facial expressions of shock, fear and horror, I enjoyed his performance.

A piece of sober reality was provided by Stephen Liddle in his two roles of Judge, in the first half, and the Duke’s final successor, Lord Antonio, in the final scenes.

Good characterisation from all of the cast enabled us to thoroughly enjoy and be exhilarated, energised and carried along by this mad rollercoaster ride of a 400 year old drama.

 

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