The Duchess of Malfi revisited
12 July 2021
Tune in to BBC Radio 3 to hear a new interpretation of the classic revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi.
The radio play is introduced by Hertford’s Professor Emma Smith, who abridged and adapted John Webster’s original text with the director Pauline Harris. Based on a true story, the Jacobean play shifts from gentle romanticism to deepest, darkest cruelty. Sound plays a big role in this new audio production, in which we hear snatched conversations caught among crowds and the music of Jimi Hendrix and Laura Marling.
If you’re expecting doublet and hose and lute music you really need to think again; John Webster’s play is more than 400 years old but it really speaks to the present.
Emma Smith