About Duchess of Malfi: Deconstructing the play: Track 1

Does the Duchess of Malfi have any resonance with modern-day audiences? Are its themes of politics and revenge still relevant today? Since it was originally published in the seventeenth century the play has been interpreted in a variety of ways, each different director examining the story and realising a unique translation of the work. In 2010 the Greenwich Theatre performed The Duchess of Malfi and in this collection we follow the cast and crew as they analyse the language used by John Webster, as well as exploring different ways of understanding the text and converting his words into a performance. This material forms part of The Open University course A230 Reading and studying literature.