As we prepare to welcome The Duchess of Malfi to Glasgow next month, our Heritage Archive and Exhibitions Officer Laura Stevens looks back at the play's history with the Citizens.
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Suzanne Bertish in The Duchess of Malfi Feb 1975 (c) Dianne Tammes
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The Duchess of Malfi has an enduring legacy throughout British history. The original
text, penned by John Webster, is considered a Jacobean classic and based upon
the tragic real life of Giovanna d’Aragon, a member of the Napoleonian nobility
in the 16th century. Her life had been the subject of other writers’
work but John Webster’s play captured the imagination, to become an enduring
legacy.
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The Citizens' Theatre Company,
courtesy of the Scottish Theatre Archive |
The play was performed by the Citizens’
Theatre Company in early 1975.
The cast featured names that would become
synonymous with the Citizens Theatre Company: David Hayman, Suzanne Bertish, Gerard Murphy
and Laurance Rudic (who also performed in the 1986 adaptation of
The Duchess
of Malfi at the National Theatre).
David Hayman took on the role of Bosola with Suzanne Bertish playing the role of The Duchess herself as well as Gerard Murphy appearing as Death.
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i - Jill Spurrier; ii - David Hayman with Jill Spurrier; iii - David Hayman in The Duchess of Malfi Feb 1975 (c) Dianne Tammes |
On the production side, Philip Prowse played the dual role of
director and designer. Prowse’s style can be clearly seen in the production
photography with the lavish costumes, grand structures dominating the stage and
skeletons decorating the set.
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Suzanne Bertish with cast in The Duchess of Malfi Feb 1975 (c) Dianne Tammes |
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The success of Prowse’s production can be
seen by his invitation to direct and design the 1986 production of The
Duchess of Malfi at the National Theatre, by the acting troupe founded by
Ian McKellen and Edward Petherbridge (the McKellen-Petherbridge Group).
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| Newspaper Cutting Scrapbook September 1985 - October 1986 |
As part of the Citizens Theatre redevelopment project we have been delving into our archives and have been able to digitise a selection of production photographs from the 1975 production of
The Duchess.
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Suzanne Bertish with cast in The Duchess of Malfi Feb 1975 (c) Dianne Tammes |
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Suzanne Bertish in The Duchess of Malfi Feb 1975 (c) Dianne Tammes |
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L-R Suzanne Bertish, Gerard Murphy, Jill Spurrier in The Duchess of Malfi Feb 1975 (c) Dianne Tammes |
This September, The Duchess returns to Glasgow as we are staging Zinnie Harris's fierce adaptation as part of our
Citizens Women season. This unflinching, contemporary take on Webster's theatrical tale runs
at Tramway 4 - 21 September.
The Duchess [of Malfi] is a co-production with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh
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