John Webster's violent, shocking, moral Jacobean masterpiece, is a tricky one for directors. Get it wrong and the audience simply dissolves into gales of laughter as the body count rises and the severed hands come into play. Thankfully, Joanna Read's production avoids this pitfall. The final half may not capture the play's disquieting combination of terror and terrible beauty, but Read is in good company: almost nobody who attempts this theatrical Everest gets to the top.
And there is plenty to admire along the way. Read's production and Nancy Surman's design are a seamless whole, recalling the dark atmosphere and studied arrangements of Renaissance paintings. The Malfi court is full of shadows and illuminations, and is drenched in red, from the bright scarlet gush of a newly cut vein to the muddy brown of dried blood. The production's restrained yet rich visuals match the grave beauty of Webster's language.
The early scenes are wonderfully detailed. The first look that Antonio and the Duchess give each other leaves you in no doubt of their mutual attraction. And it is clear from the whispering gaggles of courtiers that Malfi is a place of fear and intrigue. In one marvellous moment we see the Duchess alone, greedily, sensuously eating some fruit; the scene brilliantly illustrates her isolation, her longing for a mate, and cleverly looks forward to the later, fatal consumption of apricots.
The second half is never fleshed out with quite such detail, and there is a slight sense that the play is running away with the production when the horse should be controlling the cart. But Lou Gish as the Duchess and John McAndrew as a wolf-fur-clad Ferdinand stamp their authority on the roles, and there is a gem of a performance from Wendy Baxter as the maid, who proves wiser than her mistress in seeing the dangers lurking in the shadows.
· Until April 6. Box office: 01722 320333.
