Recently widowed and in search for a new lease of life, the Duchess (Whittaker) defies her family’s wishes by remarrying beneath her class. However, when her brothers, driven by insurmountable greed and rage, discover her second marriage they unleash a series of cruel and devastating punishments against her that repress her power. But will their vicious atrocities come back to haunt them?
Directed and adapted by award-winning Zinnie Harris (Macbeth (an undoing)), this “towering adaptation” (The Stage) of John Webster’s thrilling drama The Duchess of Malfi explores the depths of the patriarchy against female resistance.