‘Tis  Pity She’s A Whore
CUB Malthouse
Merlyn Theatre @ The Malthouse Theatre Complex
February 11 – March 5
Tickets: $21-$55 (+bf)

There’s a double pass waiting for me at the door of the Malthouse Theatre. I make a call to my girlfriend to see if she wants to come along.
“I don’t know, I kind-of had plans for tonight.”
“It’s Marion Potts’ first show as Artistic Director at Malthouse…” I explain,
Silence
“…It’s about incest and murder.”
Thirty-three minutes later we meet for a pre-show drink at the theatre’s front bar.

First performed between 1629 and 1633, John Ford’s original production was the source of huge controversy on its release for its perceived sympathetic view of incest. The play focuses less on the sexual relationship between Annabella and Giovanni than it does on the reaction that such an act might cause in society.

It’s a brave production to take on for Marion Potts in her first season but, just as it was back then, it may be the case that contemporary audiences just can’t get enough of forbidden love, the breaking of taboos and angry, bloody revenge. Although there are some enjoyable moments in Potts’ reworking, at times the production seems to be at odds with itself, a mish-mash of conflicting ideas.

The inclusion of a ‘bogan’ character talking directly to the audience is a strange choice. It’s not really clear what his purpose in the production is other than to be a cardboard cut-out caricature, playing the audience for cheap laughs (which he sometimes gets). His inclusion also raises the question of why, with the appearance of such an overtly contemporary character, the other characters dialogue has not been contemporised. It is also not clear how the three tiered stage design, a grimy warehouse bellow and a gaudily painted dining room above, functions in relation to the characters’ actions.

That is not to say there is nothing to like about Tis a Pity She’s a Whore…because there is. The music composed by Andrée Greenwell with sound design by Jethro Woodward is brilliant. During the performance Woodward is based on the bottom corner of the stage at a darkened desk space, a loop of Michael Winterbottom’s 9 Songs playing on his computer monitor (a clear nod to contemporary artists pushing the boundaries of sexual taboo). His understated seedy soundtrack perfectly contrasts Julia County’s beautiful operatic voice as she walks the top level of the stage.

The lead performances by Elizabeth Nabeen as Annabella and Benedict Samuel as Giovanni are fine, but both are overshadowed by the older cast members. John Adam is superb as Annabella’s wrathful, spurned suitor Soranzo, as are Laura Lattauda, and Richard Piper as Annabella and Giovanni’s parents.

Often more confusing than it is confrontational, Marion Potts’ version of ‘Tis a Pity She’s a Whore is a production that is bristling with ideas. It’s just a pity some of them seem to be half-baked.

Click here for Laneway’s interview with Elizabeth Nabben (Annabella).