Part of Tobacco Factory’s ever-popular annual ‘Edinburgh Or Bust’ season, John Ford’s famous play is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Cited as one of the most controversial works in English literature, this extremely provocative play promises to shock audiences and leave them squirming in their seats.
UWE Independent Theatre Company’s staging of this notorious work (they represented the UK with it at the International Student Theatre Festivals in both Belarus and Canada) is a tale of forbidden love, obsession and disaster that echoes the tragedy of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, but with an added twist: Ford daringly explores the incestuous relationship of his protagonists, Giovanni and his sister, Annabella.
Set in Parma against a backdrop of vengeance and lust, the story takes the audience on a tempestuous journey, exposing Ford’s interest in aberrant psychology and extreme behaviour with its strong-willed characters, powerful emotions and explosive finale.
Caroline Hadley’s adaptation successfully combines the original text with an innovative and experimental multimedia dimension that brilliantly fuses traditional language and modern film projection techniques. The cast’s firm grasp of a dynamic script and their sizzling chemistry in earlier runs has won many plaudits. With fiery monologues, passionate heartfelt performances and gruesome action scenes, this is a show not to be missed.
Georgie Forshall
The Brewery, Southville, Bristol.
8.15pm, £5. Tel: 0117 902 0344. www.itc.uwe-bristol.net
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