It's a rainy Monday afternoon, I just got back from a weekend in Richmond, and there's much else I could/should be doing tonight rather than seeing The Duchess of Malfi for the second time in less than a week.
Actually, it won't be the same Duchess of Malfi as the Red Bull Theater's brilliant and powerful production that's luring me back. It's a one-night-only staged reading of the adaptation by Bertolt Brecht and W.H. Auden that was produced on Broadway in 1946. Those were the days!
According to the Red Bull's announcement of tonight's reading, the Brecht/Auden version "intensifies the original's dark undercurrents."
It's hard to imagine how tonight's Duchess could be darker or more intense than the riveting show I just saw--but I can't wait to find out.
Jacobean drama isn't for the squeamish, and the second act of this one has an exceedingly high body count. But if you can tolerate the gore, this is a rare opportunity to see an extraordinary production of an unforgettable play.
Catch this Duchess of Malfi now, or you might have to wait another 50 years for a New York theater company to take it on.
It's playing at Theater at St. Clement's, 423 W. 46 St., Tuesday-Sunday, through March 28.
Tickets available at 212/352-3101, or
www.redbulltheater.com
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