The White Devil - Anna Maxwell Martin - Patrick Kennedy - Webster - 2010 Subs Restored - 2025 - 4K

Description

SN ARCHIVES - Elizabethan Playwrights Series - Educational Programme. John Webster (c. 1578 – c. 1634) - The White Devil (c. 1612) is a defining masterpiece of Jacobean revenge tragedy, set against a backdrop of moral decay and political intrigue in Renaissance Italy. Loosely based on the true history of the noblewoman Vittoria Accoramboni, the play centers on the fatal, illicit passion between the married Vittoria Corombona and the powerful Duke Brachiano. Their reckless desire sets off a disastrous cycle of betrayal and murder, expertly orchestrated by Vittoria’s cynical and witty brother, Flamineo, who serves as the play’s primary Machiavellian agent. Webster uses the play’s lurid plot—featuring spectacular murders, disguises, and an astonishing public trial—to launch a scathing critique of hypocrisy, demonstrating how the thirst for power and the destructive, cyclical nature of revenge ultimately consume nearly every figure, from the highest noble to the lowest courtier. The dramatic climax is often found in Vittoria's sensational arraignment before the Cardinal Monticelso, where her remarkable courage and eloquence, despite being unjustly condemned, cement her status as one of the English stage's most fascinating anti-heroines. The play's enduring power lies in its poetic darkness and its profound skepticism about human virtue, ending in a harrowing, inevitable bloodbath. A notable modern interpretation was the 2010 BBC Radio 3 production, which boldly transposed the Italian setting into a murky 1950s underworld of sudden violence. Directed by Marc Beeby, this version starred Anna Maxwell Martin as Vittoria and featured Patrick Kennedy as the nihilistic Flamineo, bringing a striking, noir sensibility to Webster’s dark vision of ambition and damnation. CAST Vittoria - Anna Maxwell Martin Flamineo - Patrick Kennedy Brachiano - Shaun Dingwall Francisco - Peter Wight Monticelso - Sean Baker Ludovico - Harry Myers Isabella - Christine Kavanagh Gasparo - David Seddon Camillo - Sam Dale Cornelia - Frances de la T