Venice Preserved
By Thomas Otway
Directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah
Designed by James Coterill
Royal Shakespeare Company
Swan Theatre
Stratford-upon-Avon
Friday 14th June 2019, 19.30
CAST
Jodie McNee – Belvedera
Michael Grady-Hall – Jaffeir, her husband
Stephen Fewell – Pierre, his friend, a soldier
Kevin N Golding – Duke of Venice
Les Dennis – Priuli, a Senator, Belevedera’s father
John Hodgkinson – Antonio, a Senator
Natalie Dew – Aquilina, a courtesan
Steve Nicholson – Renault, a conspirator
Alison Halstead – Bedamar, Ambassador from Spain, a conspirator
Isabel Adomakoh Young – Spinosa, a conspirator
Carl Prekopp – Eliot. a conspirator
Pete Ashmore – Theodore, a conspirator
Toby Webster – Branveil, a conspirator
Nickcolia King-N’Da – Durand, a conspirator
Polly Edsell – Brabe, a conspirator
Rosalind Steele – Vasquez, a conspirator
Sarah Twomey- Mezzana, a conspirator
Kevin N Golding – Retrosi, a conspirator
Les Dennis – Revillido, a conspirator
Ben Roddy – Escudo, DBedamar’s aide
Rosalind Steele – Ilaria, Aquilina’s maid
Sarah Twomey – Flavia, Aquilina’swaiter
Ben Roddy – Pierre’s officer
LIVE MUSIC
Joe Archer- guitar
Ben Walker- guitar
programme design
Look at that cast list! A lot of conspirators. I applaud the RSC in spelling the title “Venice Preserved” as everyone else seems to prefer “Preserv’d” wth a daft apostrophe. As punctuation didn’t get set in stone until the 1830s, following Thomas Otway’s choice back in 1682 is a silly conceit. The apostrophe signifies that we do not say the ‘e’ to sound like ‘id’ as in wanted, needed, or William Blake’s ‘builded.’ The apostrophe in “preserv’d” is akin to spelling ‘tragedy’ as ‘tragedie’ just because they often did in the 17th century. It’s a Ye Olde Tea Shoppe conceit.
The play had a run of popularity for one hundred and fifty years after Otway’s death in 1685, aged just 33. In recent decades the strong collocation with “Restoration” is “Comedy” so a Restoration Tragedy or even tragedie is a novelty for most of us. It is one of Michael Billington’s 101 Greatest Plays which confirms my suspicion that producers are working steadily through his selection. In Billington’s book this play comes directly after Aphra Benn’s The Rover which was a recent RSC triumph, and Otway knew Aphra Benn and acted in one of her plays.
Jaffeir (Michael Grady-Hall) and Belvedera (Jodie McNee)
The plot. Jaffeir has married Belvedera, the daughter of Venetian Senator, Priuli, and in spite of their three years of wedded bliss, Priuli is pissed off and disinherits her. Given Jaffeir’s awful costume, I felt her dad had a point. Then Jaffeir’s best friend, Pierre (a good old Venetian name?) turns up. He is a soldier, or sailor, inexplicably given to wearing full dress uniform with gold braid and tassels. Pierre, unappreciated by the Venetian state, burns his medal ribbons. More to the point, his mistress, the courtesan, Aquilina, is having a hard time – no pun intended – with the seedy old perve Antonio, another Senator. The senate has ignored Pierre’s complaints about Antonio, at least according to plot summaries though I never heard it.
Pierre (Stephen Fewell) and Aquilina (Natalie Dew)
Pierre invites Jaffeir to join the conspirators against the Venetian leaders, led by Renault – that French influence continues. Anyway, Renault with a very large number of conspirators including the Spanish ambassador intends to be revolting (with a mullet hairstyle, neck tattoo and glass eye he is already revolting) and kill the Senators. So, Renault v Prius, sorry, Priuli.
Steve Nicholson as Renault
To join the plotters, Jaffeir has to offer up Belvedera as a hostage, as one does in these situations. While she is held hostage, Renault tries to rape her. Foolishly this is reported by her rather than acted out. Jaffeir frees Belvedera from her laser delineated cell, and they decide to spill the beans to the Senate and name names. This seems fair given Renault’s exhortations to slaughter men, women and children and wade in blood. They tell all, on condition Jaffeir can get clemency for Pierre and others. The crafty Senators go back on it and sentence them all to hang. Think of the plotters as ISIS and they have a point, even if this production strenuously avoided any temptation to draw that kind of parallel. Pierre wants a soldier’s death, so at the last minute Jaffeir stabs him rather than let him endure the shame of hanging. I get that motivation from Wikipedia. I wouldn’t have picked up the passing reference on the night if I hadn’t read about it before. Long sequence of Belvedera bemoaning her fate. The end.
The first many minutes of the play set up the back story and events in three long two part dialogue scenes. It’s all description and reporting, so dull. Too much of the play is two part dialogue rather than action.
The plotters – referencing 80s sci-fi
Some reviews complain about the modern dress and electronic screens, Japanese cartoon masks and a very short music / dance section. Actually there was very little of this. I liked the lighted sign over Aquilina’s house, ‘credit cards accepted.’ Why complain about the modernizations? We needed much more of these additions to enliven it.
Modern dress is an opportunity to draw political parallels. On the way to Stratford we listened to Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, and Monica McWilliams was describing the strong links between being a terrorist and abusing women. Abusers are inclined to become terrorists. Terrorists are inclined to abuse women. Renault, a fierce looking bloodthirsty plotter is a great example, but we get a measly weak report from Belvedera that he came to see her ‘unbuttoned.’ That’s Otway, but to add action would not need the addition of lines. I kept thinking of things they could have done – play Street Fightin’ Man, Revolution and For What it’s Worth as appropriate for starters. Or give the plotters IRA balaclavas. No! No, better not. I’ve seen balaclavas far, far too often on stage. I sniggered to myself when Jaffeir declaimed ‘Must I betray my friends?’ Yep, I thought. Bite the bullet, ignore the big two and go out and vote Lib Dem, Green or Change Uk. Vote “Remain,’ not for a hoary old political party, as so many of us did in the European Parliament elections.
The theme has potential. A self-serving corrupt ruling class on one hand, an indecisive opposition concerned mainly with pulling them down and defeating their aims without much idea what to put in their place. Vengeance is the main aim, and in the cases of Jaffeir and Pierre, the desire for revenge is based on personal grudges. I reckon you could go much further with modernizing it and reflecting today.
John Hodgkinson as Senator Antonio
Both the best scenes involved John Hodgkinson as Senator Antonio, the sort of politician found hanged with an orange in his mouth and a carrot up his bottom, or shooting a blackmailing boyfriend’s Alsatian on Dartmoor. Or fumbling every lowly assistant or woman MP in sight as by Deputy PM’s Droit de Seniority. Yes, I think that’s evenly covered all three of the major parties. Otway knew it in 1682. Political power attracts perverts, mysonogists and abusers … on both sides. Hodgkinson is very funny indeed in Act One with Natalie Dew as Aquilina, and in the second half with just himself and lots of audience interaction. We were desperate for comic relief. It’s way over the top, but all the better for it. He stripped to black plastic bondage gear and acted as a dog, a bull and a toad and begged her ‘spit on me!’ She dresses as a dominatrix with whip while exuding her disgust at him. He calls her ‘nacky’ Which was 17th century slang for female genitals, so must be the origin of nooky. Venice was symbolic for sexual high jinks for centuries before Paris took over.
Natalie Dew as Aquilina, the courtesan
Jodie McNee was a strong Belvedera, with a Liverpool accent. I half expected her to call Jaffeir ‘Chuck.’ Why not a Liverpool accent? OK, but also why? Other accents were very light or neutral, apart from Renault’s harsh Estuary accent. So is it supposed to make a point? Les Dennis as her Senator dad (very good too) has no accent to match. I don’t recall her having it as Isabella in Measure for Measure. Having a different accent distances her. Is she not Venetian like the others? Accent is part of the actor’s resource bank. We notice it. If we have a cacophony of varied accents in a play, it blurs, but we didn’t have such a variety. I guess after years of recording audio with accents, I’m attuned to notice.
Jodie McNee as Belvedera
McNee emotes powerfully with tremendous stage presence. She worked in the interpretation that this is a she-tragedy about Belvedera rather than a play on political dissent. For me, she overwhelmed Jaffeir’s performance in dialogues, though his crappy costume didn’t help give him any sense of power. I felt McNee, Natalie Dew, John Hodgkinson and Steve Nicholson as Renault hoover up all the accolades. The fight between Jaffeir, Belvedera and the prison guard was excellent in both direction and execution. They escape but then emerge from below the stage, sodden from head to foot. Was that an escape through the sewers or just Venice’s famously wet thoroughfares? Directors do seem to like getting actors cold and wet. Doesn’t the wardrobe department say, ‘that requires two extra complete costume sets on matinee days.’ Or as important costumes are doubled up with spares anyway, well, certainly for film so I assume theatre, four extra costume sets? Then you have to dry and press the wet ones overnight. Pointless. Horrible for the actors. Second time this week too (Chichester did the full sprinklers on Monday).
Jaffeir before the Senate. Kevin N Golding as Duke of Venice
I thought the full Senate scene opening Part Two was particularly strong and interesting. The Duke, Antonio and Priuli all shone.
Les Dennis as Senator Priuli
As a play? There are thirty plus Shakespeare that Billington failed to list in his 101 Greatest that are way better than this, let alone looking at the next 400 years. As has been said, he tries to give an even chronological distribution, and would probably admit that the first 37 slots should be automatically taken by the Bard. The revival of interest in the play started with Peter Brooks production in 1953 with Paul Scofield and John Gielgud. Billington realized its greatness when he saw it with Michael Pennington and Ian McKellen as Jaffeir and Pierre in the 80s, but that pair of actors could make ‘Noddy in Toyland’ look important. This pairing was no match. I disliked the play’s construction with its heavy emphasis on two part dialogue to report action that happened off stage or in the past. I was bored many times though I appreciated the directorial interventions to brighten it up. They had at least six more conspirators than they needed, but then it plays in repertory with The Provoked Wife, so the actors are employed for the season. Might as well use them. The RSC is so consistently good that a dud is rare. There were a lot of empty seats which doesn’t happen here with popular choices of material. They’re mainly booked in advance, so it was the initial desription of the play that failed to appeal. It got plenty of four star reviews. Not for either of us.
two star **
WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
It’s rare to see such a strong divide between Michael Billington (4 star) and Domenic Cavendish (2 star). I’m with Cavendish today. He sums it up as we saw it.
4 star
Michael Billington, The Guardian ****
Jodie McNee, going mad in a denim mac, vibrantly shows that the play is the tragedy of Belvidera, trapped in a world of competing male egos. It is good to see an unjustly neglected work so stirringly restored.
Michael Davies, What’s On Stage ****
Thomas Otway’s play has all the intrigue and narrative drive of House of Cards, and director Prasanna Puwanarajah exploits these qualities for all they’re worth. Recognising that there’s no shame in playing to the piece’s strengths, he finds every modern resonance and political parallel he can and foregrounds the play’s relentless pace and almost filmic imagery. The result is gripping and explosive … Billed and presented as a Restoration political thriller, this production of Otway’s dangerously enticing play demands that it be seen as a minor masterpiece.
Dominic Maxwell, The Times ****
Tricky Restoration tragedy, meet oddly invigorating RSC reinvention. Be warned, though: the director Prasanna Puwanarajah has cut plenty of the text of Thomas Otway’s tale from 1682, yet it takes a while for his stylish staging to escape the shadow of all its influences. And shadow is the right word for the techno-noir world in which Puwanarajah shrouds this thrillerish tale of two male friends, one well-born wife, the rotten Venetian state they take on and their equally rotten band of conspirators.
Broadway World, ****
Gemma Fincher, The Reviews Hub, ****
3 star
Dave Fargnoli, The Stage, ***
Weekend Notes, Birmingham ***
2 star
Domenic Cavendish, Telegraph **
The psychological simplicity of the play means there is much declamation, little discernible thought process. Jodie McNee’s Belvidera is the production’s Liverpudlian saving grace – delivering lines that are more paste than diamond with a fervour as intense as Saint Joan on the stake. Michael Grady-Hall’s Jaffeir, though, is as wet as they come, no match for McNee’s fiery persona, and sparking little from Stephen Fewell’s mannish-dullish Pierre. … All in all, deathly.
LINKS ON THIS BLOG:
JODIE McNEE
Measure for Measure, RSC 2012 (Isabella)
JOHN HODGKINSON
The Provoked Wife, RSC , 2019
The Country Wife, Minerva, Chichester 2018 (Pinchwife)
Twelfth Night, RSC 2017 (Sir Toby Belch)
Love’s Labour’s Lost– RSC 2014 (Don Armado)
Love’s Labour’s Won RSC 2014 (Don Pedro)
Hangmen, by Martin McDonagh, 2015 (Pierrepointe)
Love’s Labour’s Lost, RSC / Chichester 2016 (Don Armado)
Much Ado About Nothing, RSC / Chichester 2016 (Don Pedro)
The Ferryman, by Jez Butterworth, Royal Court, 2017 (Tom Kettle)
MICHAEL GRADY-HALL
The Shoemaker’s Wife, RSC 2015
All’s Well That Ends Well, RSC, 2013
As You Like It, RSC, 2013
Hamlet, RSC 2013
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, RSC 2011
The City Madam, RSC 2011
Cardenio, RSC 2011
NATALIE DEW
Twelfth Night, Young Vic, 2018 (Olivia)
The Provoked Wife, RSC , 2019
SARAH TWOMEY
Twelfth Night, RSC 2017
The Seagull, Chichester, 2015
Platonov, Chichester 2015
The Provoked Wife, RSC , 2019
KEVIN N GOLDING
Hamlet, RSC 2016
King Lear, RSC 2016
The Provoked Wife, RSC , 2019
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