If you avoid the programme's vapid theorisings on theatre and forget Howard Barker had anything to do with the substance of this Elizabethan tragedy - he rewrote it from Thomas Middleton's original - you might enjoy it. There's some strong, intelligent acting and a vigorous, engaging story with power and passion.
Despite an expansive set, a drama that should bring out the best in even a mediocre performer and sprightly direction from John O'Brien, the performance fails to break out of its shell of self-consciousness. The cast don't seem to know what they're supposed to be aiming at, and their unease communicates itself to the audience. Perhaps this is in line with what Barker believes a "theatre of catastrophe" should achieve.
Among a list of commandments set out in the programme is Barker's assertion that his vision has no truck with "those who ache to delight the audience". He is successful in bringing such aridity to an otherwise living piece of drama.
It seems Barker has no feeling for Middleton's drama. Perhaps he has some feeling for Shakespeare: his "reworking" of Hamlet opens in Vienna next spring.
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