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Review by Paul Nelson
ONE
OF my favourite plays of all time, one which I must have seen almost a dozen
times and which I never tire of seeing, is John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's
A Whore, a truly romantic tragedy.
It's a tragedy of forbidden love, incest, and it centres on Giovanni and his
beautiful sister Annabella. The play contains some of the most breathtaking
love verse in the English language.
It is also such a gory affair that on reflection it must have been all that
blood letting - tongue and heart being cut out, throats slit, stabbings that
go all the way through - that attracted me as a young boy. It was to me at
quite a tender age, a comic, blood and thunder, then ultimately as a teenager,
something to cry over. Nowadays it is something to savour.
I have never managed to get over its attraction and though in many cases I
fear the play is performed for the prurient interest in its title, given the
chance I try not to miss it.
Therefore, I almost hurried along to the Greenwich Playhouse to see
its latest airing (produced by Alice De Sousa for Galleon Theatre Company,
pictured) and I was not disappointed. The play stands up to the test of
time as it always has (it was written circa 1627) and it is being given tender
attention by its director.
Handsome Giovanni declares his love and sexual attraction to his sister Annabella.
At first she is intimidated by the thought, but eventually she falls in love
with him. However, she has to choose between three suitors, Soranzo, Grimaldi
and Bergetto.
Soranzo has been having an affair with the wife of Richardetto, one Hippolita,
and he has sworn to marry her should she become a widow. When it is learned
that Richardetto has been drowned at sea, Soranzo reneges on his pledge and
continues to pursue Annabella. Richardetto has not been lost at sea and disguised
as a doctor returns to watch his wife with Soranzo.
When Annabella chooses Soranzo, Richardetto and the jealous Grimaldi join
forces to kill him, but mistakenly kill the innocent Bergetto instead.
At the wedding feast, Hippolita, double-crossed by Soranzo's servant Vasques,
drinks a cup of poisoned wine she had meant for Soranzo. The reason for Annabella's
wedding becomes clear when Soranzo discovers she is pregnant by Giovanni.
Soranzo plans to reveal this and get revenge at a splendid feast but to save
Annabella's honour, Giovanni kills her, turns up at the feast with her heart
in a casket, stabs Soranzo and is himself denied a public suicide and is killed
by Soranzo's followers.
All this takes five acts and I doff my cap to director Bruce Jamieson as it
is to his credit that he has boiled it all down into the present day acceptable
length for modern playgoers.
Obviously there have been cuts, in both characters and scenes, but what is
important is that the very essence of the play, its most salient points, are
preserved. I took along an acquaintance who had never seen the play and there
was little or nothing to explain in order to complete the evening.
What works startlingly well are the closing moments of the play when Ford's
poetic imagery, moving in the extreme, is topped by the ironic throwaway nonchalance
of Vasques, the ultimate put down of the sensitive Annabella, " 'Tis
pity she's a whore."
This production boasts a very fine Annabella, a truly sinister Vasques thoroughly
enjoying his own wickedness, a burning and furious Soranzo, a highly amusing
Bergetto, the sexiest Hippolita I have ever seen and a saintly Bonaventura.
The last part is usually played boringly by a bore, so I found this performance
a revelation.
As with the old Jaguar car add, the production has grace and space, the space
at Greenwich being more than cleverly filled. Unfortunately, it initially
lacks the third part of the Jag advert, pace.
I'm afraid this is due to the absence of fire in the belly of Giovanni.
Instead of being aflame with zeal, passion, and tender love, he is almost
indolent. One could not believe the child both he and Annabella desperately
want as a symbol of their devotion is anything more than the by-product of
a desultory screw, a lacklustre attempt to get benefit and a council flat.
Annoyance and petulance rides on his brow instead of burning concern, desire
and desolation at the hopeless and religiously wicked situation in which they
find themselves.
This lack of Giovanni's pace, which starts off the play, drags the evening
almost to a standstill, until the action and the necessary restlessness of
the other characters kick-start the plot.
The production is attractively set in a stylised limbo of Christian overtones
which is lit with burning Parma sunshine or serene moonlight. The incidental
music has been chosen with such care that it actually plays a dramatic part
in the play.
I would not ever knowingly miss a production of Ford's play, and I am heartily
glad I didn't miss this one.
'Tis Pity She's A Whore by John Ford. Directed by Bruce Jamieson, Movement choreographed by Amanda Ling, Design by Peter Todd, Lighting designed by Robert Gooch WITH Adam Tabraham (Bonaventura), Ryan Clifford (Giovanni), Kevin Marchant (Vasques), Aaron Woodman (Grimaldi), Aden Cardy-Brown (Soranzo), Deirdra Whelan (Putana), Siren Turkesh (Annabella), Daniel Sung (Donado), James Levison (Bergetto), David Vaughan Knight (Richardetto), Eleanor Draper (Hippolita). Produced by Alice De Sousa for Galleon Theatre Company at Greenwich Playhouse, 118 Greenwich High Road, London SE10. Tickets 020 8858 9256.