Women Beware Women

‘Women Beware Women’ is a 1620, Jacobean tragedy, spiced with comedy and probably Thomas Middleton’s greatest work. The play was originally published in 1657, although it was many years before a performance was put on.  Contemporary English playwright Howard Barker has, in an almost poetic style, adapted the canonical text into this challenging play. Often described as ‘Romeo and Juliet for grown-ups’ or the ‘daring Changeling’, the UWA students in English, Theatre and Cultural Studies under the direction of Steve Chinna, accepted the immense challenge, but are struggling to perform this production at the Dolphin Theatre, in the University of WA, Crawley until Saturday 26^th May. The two and three-quarter hour production starts at 8.00 pm.

          Businessman Leantio (Patrick Whitelaw – very good) having just married the beautiful 17-year- old Bianca (Aisling Murray - good), is taking her home to Florence to meet his widowed mother (Belinda Beckwith) for the first time. The mother is not impressed. Before Leantio can consummate the marriage, he is called away to business in Venice.

         As the Cardinal (Chris Grabski) is walking with friends in the street, The Duke of Florence (Jackson Hart) glances up and sees Bianca and is smitten. He immediately orders Guardiano (Lachlan Keeley) to find out who she is.

         Nearby Hippolito (Rob Herfkens) is talking to his niece, Isabella (Emma Richards). He discloses how much he is in love with her. She is totally repulsed at the incestuous advance. Later, as Hippolito and his sister Livia (Porcia Maley) are talking, she gives him advice and sets out to change Isabella’s mind. Unknown to them, Isabella’s father, Fabritio (Kelly Midgley – good) has already promised this 16-year-old to the wealthy heir, Ward (Valentin Lang – good). Ward’s best friend, Sordido (David Roman – excellent) graphically explains to Ward what to look for in a woman.

       Guardiano asks Livia to invite the old widow around for a game of chess – and to bring Bianca too. At Guardiano’s house, he takes Bianca alone to the top of a hill to see the new monument. ‘By sheer chance’ the 55-year-old Duke of Florence turns up and invites her to see his obelisk in his chamber.

        When Leantio returns from his business trip, he is excited and expects his new wife to be chewing at the bit to be deflowered. His soiled wife, rather than feeling guilty, is unhappy with their tatty new home, when she could instead have the opulence of the Duke’s palace. A servant (Sally Hughes) arrives and invites Bianca to the Duke’s party. In order to rub Leantio’s nose in the situation, the Duke then sends the servant (Malou van Stuijvenberg) back to get Leantio.

       Fabritio asks Ward to dance with his new bride, Isabella, but it becomes obvious that Ward has a greater interest in his friend Sordido.

      How will the love affairs resolve themselves?

The set was several tiers of black daises with a brightly lit, coloured cyc. at the back. Unfortunately the tape recorder had an earth loop hum, which advised the audience of an up and coming sound effect.

Barker deliberately smudges the realism, believing that the audience should work and not simply be entertained. His plays are savage, raw and take a special kind of director and a brave cast to produce them – unfortunately, this was not such a team. Murdoch’s director Serge Tampalini  delivers the Barker plays as they are meant to be seen, no watering down and no pulling back at the last moment, one recalls the daring and brutal ‘Gertrude-the Cry’ seen at the Blue Room.

Steve Chinna, like Serge, has already successfully produced several Barker plays in an avant-garde style, including ‘Knowledge and a Girl (The Snow White Case)’, ‘Seven Lears: The Pursuit of the Good’ and ‘The Fence in its Thousandth Year’ but sadly this play failed to even reach a good Community Theatre standard. The actors were word perfect, but I got the impression that for most of the time they did not really understand what they were saying, let alone get to the emotion and the depth. The Duke’s performance was reminiscent of Rowan Atkinson warming up for Mr Bean.

The production was bland, bloodless, poorly paced and lacked convincing sex drive and horror – it is supposed to make ‘Hamlet’ look like the Wiggles. After the rape – off stage - the actor was totally untouched; the dress pristine, and yet the script asks ‘for pins to repair the damage’.

A great deal of work has been put into this production, but it still seemed under-rehearsed, I am sure that after a couple of nights the cast will let themselves go and the show will be much better.

So many chances have been missed. Very disappointed.