‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (tour)

John Ford‘s Jacobean classic is given the Theatre Babel treatment in this new production, directed by Graham McLaren. Theatre Babel is the innovative classics company who, last year, sprung a stunning new version of Euripides’ Medea onto an unsuspecting world.

Patently not afraid to tackle taboo subjects, Ford’s gory tale of incest looks to be the perfect next project for the company. So, have they pulled it off? Well, not really.

Plus points are the editing that McLaren and co have done to Ford’s difficult-to-perform work. Dispensed with is a distracting sub-plot, allowing the play to focus on the central story of incestuous and passionate lovers Giovanni and Annabella – a motherless brother and sister. The play is now a pared down, leaner beast – almost, dare we say it of a work from 1625, contemporary. Tense, intimate, angry: that’s Theatre Babel’s ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore.

But, goddamit, the black Jacobean humour has been removed – much to my disgust! Instead, Theatre Babel play it straight in extremis. Don’t laugh, it might wreck the hallowed, precious text. My caveat with this production is the same as I would level at Mark Ravenhill and the like (if there is such a thing!) – there’s been a sense of humour bypass. The tension – à la a Harold Pinter pause – is crying out to be broken with a well-timed snigger.

Instead, what we end up with is something a little duller: stilted performances amongst a wash of filthy amorality and depravity.

Frances Thorburn is a wittering Annabella, while her incestuous partner in crime is played by Kevin Lennon, a quivering and terrified young chap who looks like he couldn’t get a girlfriend had it not been “kept in the family”.

Still, hats off for the brave effort. There are few enough attempts at tackling the difficult subject matter within Ford’s 400-year-old work, and there’s certainly no one writing plays with this kind of bite at the moment. Jacobean theatre that rocks and a theatre company happy to rock the boat – that combination alone makes this production worthy.

Dave Windass
(reviewed at York’s Theatre Royal)