The White Devil, by John Webster, directed by Maria Aberg, at Royal Shakespeare Company (Swan Theatre)

Director Maria Aberg is gaining a reputation for radical and blood-thumping Shakespeare productions. Her bold stagings of As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, and King John inspired debate and shook traditional views of Shakespeare.

Her version of The White Devil continues that trend.

Setting the play in a contemporary world somewhere between Nicholas Winding Refn’s stylish Drive and Paolo Sorrentino’s decadent The Great Beauty is a courageous move that creates a piercing backdrop for this proto-feminist play.

Webster harnessed his reputation as a blood-thirty playwright with this murderous plot that stretches the boundaries of the revenge tragedy genre. Local beauty Vittoria is unhappily married to lackluster Camillo.  Duke Bracciano is married to Isabella but consumed by lust for Vittoria. A plot masterminded by his servant (and Vittoria’s brother) Flaminio leads Vittoria and Bracciano into an adulterous relationship that tears their families apart.  Many bodies fall before the plot is resolved. It’s not a happy ending.

This production is part of the ‘Roaring Girls’ season at the RSC and the gender issues latent in the play are fully explored by Aberg and her solid company. At the start of both acts we watch Vittoria mournfully dress herself and construct her gendered identity.

Casting a woman as the scheming Flaminio is the production’s most audacious move. While it is not an entirely successful switch, it brings gender politics to the forefront of the production and raises questions about women’s enforced inactivity in a man’s world.

The RSC are on a roll at the moment. In the recent past their attempts at modern-dress revivals have been turgid or misplaced. This is spot-on. The ensemble are on excellent form throughout and this is one of the tightest groups in years. 

This is a pulsating production of a rarely revived play. It is not only a spirited defense of director driven theatre but also a striking example of the invigorating works that Shakespeare’s contemporaries wrote. Long may the revivals and reinventions continue.