Double Falsehood

Synopsis

In 2010 Methuen books controversially introduced this disputed drama of love, betrayal, rape and reconciliation into their complete works of Shakespeare. But were they right to do so? Did Shakespeare write enough of it to justify it’s inclusion or is it just an audacious 18th Century fake? Decide for yourself. Double Falsehood is a fast moving tale of young love, treachery and reconciliation. The Duke’s youngest son rapes a village girl and sets out to steal his friend’s bride. The aftermath of these traumatic events drives the four into the wilderness and the Duke’s eldest son must find a way of reconciling everyone and reuniting the missing young people with their squabbling parents.

Our Review:

24 January 2011

The Union Theatre's latest is the first professional production of 'lost Shakespeare' Double Falsehood since 1792. The story of Duke's son Henrique, who rapes his paramour Violante and then tries to steal his friend Julio's fiancee Leonora, we see Violante pursue Henrique for a marriage that will restore her honour, while Julio becomes mad over the supposed loss of his loved one. This is not your typical Shakespearian fare – which causes many to doubt the veracity of its authorship, and makes it a hard watch in places.

As Violante, recent graduate Jessie Lilley is particularly enjoyable. Although her violation by the disturbed Henrique (Adam Redmore) seemed rather laboured, through the rest of the play she impresses with her demeanour and singular focus, as well as the unusual but inspired choice of a Liverpudlian accent.

Gabriel Vick shows great versatility as the betrayed Julio. Besides making the verse understandable – somethi...

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Latest User Review

Gareth James - 12 February 2011:

The jury’s still out on whether Shakespeare had a hand in this play since its recent publication suggested so, but three cheers for Phil Willmott for allowing those of us who prefer our plays on stage rather than on the page to join in the debate. For a play with just 2 hours playing time, it’s a fairly convoluted story (though without any sub-plotting). In Andalusia, one of the The Dukes’s sons poses as his friend, courts the girl in love with him and rapes her maid. Of course, it’s all resolved by the end. I have to confess that the likeness of the actors did lead to a little confusion, but I wasn’t entirely gripped and somewhat distracted. It’s simply staged (just as well given that it moves swiftly from scene to scene) with just nine chairs and a coffin (!) for props – also just as well as it was designed by a choreographer (Javier de Frutos), but to be fair it does have a real Andalusian feel (helped by a Spanish guitar soundtrack). I could have done without the frequent sorties of the cast through the audience though, which seemed pointless and became very irritating. The performances are mostly good, though Adam Redmore was a bit too sweet to be entirely plausible as the villain. I’m not Shakespeare scholar, though I have seen all of his (other) plays and I’d be surprised of he had much of a hand, if any, in this given the crudeness of the structure and the third-rate verse, but it was good to see it for myself. To confuse things further, the RSC is following Croydon Warehouse in staging Cardenio this summer, in which Shakespeare may also have had a hand and may even be wholly or partly the same play! Just when you’ve been waiting for the Shakespeare bus for ages, along come three….....

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