This bloody Jacobean tragedy explores how unchecked desires can bring about incredible destruction
In some ways, it is easy to see why Thomas Middleton’s early 17th-century play, Women Beware Women, is rarely produced. The plot is highly intricate, and the writing is steeped in the misogynistic attitudes of the time. The moral of this bloody tragedy is simply laid out; untempered lust will bring about the downfall of those it consumes. The title places the blame squarely on the shoulders of women, and indeed, much of the plot centres on women tempting other women into dangerous or sinful situations.
However, these betrayals are always driven by the desires of men; no one escapes judgement after this complicated web of relationships comes to its dramatic and violent end.
Director Mya Grace Kelln has assembled a strong ensemble cast, who deliver this complex piece with a good amount of chemistry and energy, and a compelling grasp of the show’s dark humour. Several creative movement sequences, directed by Isabella Garland, offer some of the most visually striking moments in the show, such as the opening scene of a dance-like wedding ceremony between Leantio (Ewan Bruce) and Bianca (Lani Blossom Perry). This scene of four veiled figures playfully challenging the groom to find his true bride will remind viewers of a similar device in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and the complex wedding ceremony helps evoke the play’s setting in 16th-century Florence.
Another effective scene sees a foreboding tableau of statues come to life and draw the unwilling Bianca into a sinister encounter with the Duke. This central plotline of the show is based on the lives of real historical figures – Bianca Cappello did live in 16th-century Florence, and she did become involved with Francesco I de’ Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The rest of the plotlines are taken from other historical novels and sources, which Middleton weaves together to create a dizzying array of ill-advised relationships.
The plot’s impact was slightly dampened, however, by some of the production choices. For instance, having a uniformly young cast made the generational dynamics between the innocent young lovers and the scheming older generation harder to visualise. At times, the sound design overpowered the actors, both in terms of volume, and also in one scene where an unevenly looping audio pulled focus away from an otherwise compelling exchange of the Cardinal warning the prideful Duke to repent for his many sins.
Overall, the cast’s grasp of the play’s early modern language was strong, and many of the actors conveyed their meaning with an engaging use of cadence and gestures to make Middleton’s text come to life. A small handful of pronunciation errors did momentarily break the spell of the story, but these could be easily fixed by this cast, as they are clearly comfortable with historic language.
Finally, the visual design of the production was striking but not new – much of the production was quite visually similar to 13th Night’s 2024 production of Hedda Gabler. In both productions, the cast was dressed all in white with a few choice accents of red, and the staging relied primarily on chairs as the only set pieces.
This minimalism does place the focus on the human relationships central to each play, and Kelln has certainly found a visually impactful style, which has served several productions well. It will be interesting to see how her directorial style evolves with time.