Brighton Festival 2014

‘TIs a Pity She’s a Whore

Cheek By Jowll

Genre: Drama

Venue: Theatre Royal, Brighton (as part of Brighton Festival)

Festival: Brighton Festival

Low Down

Review

Cheek by Jowl’s production of the Jacobean classic ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore was an excellent piece of performance. It struck a perfect balance between retaining the essential essence of the original text, and bringing it right up to date with modern dress and the casual setting of a teenager’s bedroom.

From the outset it is clear that this production has panache; the first scene involves a strangely hypnotic and powerful dance done by all the characters, followed by an expertly choreographed fist-fight between two half-naked men. It sets the scene well for the style of performance which is to follow, and the rest of the show didn’t disappoint in terms of unconventional staging, the way it incorporated music and dance, and the energy of the performers.

The play, written in the early 1600s contains universal themes that are still as shocking today as they would have been to that Jacobean audience almost 400 years ago. Even in our world of on-demand internet porn, Eastenders and social media, incest between a brother and sister remains one of the last taboos. As the programme notes state, the play’s author, John Ford, tackles the subject in an interesting way – exploring the love of this brother and sister and neither condemning nor condoning the act. It was therefore up to Cheek by Jowl to make the most of this, throwing the subject out there and allowing the audience to make up their own minds. And yes, the fact that the end of the play is a veritable blood-bath does rather push you towards deciding incest isn’t perhaps the best course of action, yet the company manages to show the love, depth of feeling and raw passion that Annabella and Giovanni feel for each other, and we are made to understand that such emotions would have been impossible for them to deny.

It was a large cast, with the supporting characters providing some marvellously handsome and arrogant suitors for Annabella, as well as the gossipy and foolish servant, Putana, who was played with an appropriate mixture of stereotype and silliness by Nicola Sanderson. Eve Ponsonby was a good Annabella, managing to be at once over-sexed and confident, yet at the same time still quite clearly a child. As Vasques, Will Alexander was a stand-out performer. This duplicitous servant was played as a cheeky wide-boy, loyal to everyone and no one, providing the piece with much humour and plenty of shirtless-action. Ruth Everett’s Hippolita was a marvellous mad-woman, driven crazy by jealousy and rejection. Highly strung and vengeful – her death throes were both comedic and horrifying.

The overriding sense you get from Cheek by Jowl’s production is one of energy, raw sexuality and lust, as well as being highly accessible. Performed in the original Jacobean language, we are treated to the richness of Ford’s metaphors and poetry, yet thanks to the direction, dramaturgy and performances, the story is crystal clear every step of the way. It was an excellent production, and I only wish that all performances of classic texts could be as engaging and energetic.

Published May 15, 2014 by Alice Booth