A seedy world of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lies behind glamour, riches and celebrity in The Revenger’s Tragedy, the third and final production in Nottingham Playhouse’s Sweet Vengeance season.
Thomas Middleton’s Jacobean black comedy explores “the inevitable consequences of taking the law into your own hands”. It is set in “a world without justice, where the rich and powerful do what they like and get away with murder”.
Entering this lawless world, Vindice thirsts for justice and plans a dazzling revenge for the murder of his sweetheart. But is he in danger of becoming just as bad as the amoral people he despises?
Described as “the Tarantino version of Hamlet”, this new production of The Revenger’s Tragedy “brings a contemporary edge to a timeless tale of trying to be good in a very bad world”.
Nottingham Playhouse associate director Fiona Buffini said, “I’m so excited about directing this show. It’s a piece that bursts with the energy of raging against the system and a corrupt world. This is a play about a guy who takes justice into his own hands, achieves the revenge he longed for, but at what price?”
The 1970s-inspired production features a soundtrack of glam-rock, disco and punk favourites, including “Twentieth Century Boy” by T Rex and the Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks”.
The cast includes Alexander Campbell as Vindice who appeared in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Leicester’s Curve and English Touring Theatre’s production of Ken Kesey’s novel The Three Musketeers; Paul Brightwell as the Duke who was in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus at West Yorkshire Playhouse and the Royal Exchange Theatre Company’s 2015 production of Arthur Miller’ sThe Crucible; and Tabitha Wady as the Duchess who had a role in Patrick Ryecart’s When Blair had Bush and Bunga at the Edinburgh Festival in 2015.
The rest of the cast is Mary Jo Randle (Gratiana), Michael Keane (Supervacuo), Declan Perring (Lussurioso), Martin Miller (Antonio), John Askew (younger son / Dondolo / servant / gentleman), Bethan Mary-James (Ambitiosa), Isabel Adams (Castiza), Navinder Bhatti (Spurio) and Nathan Clarke (Hippolito).
Designer is Neil Murray, Jon Nicholls is composer and sound designer, lighting designer is Mark Jonathan and choreographer is by Cydney Uffindell-Philips. Fight director is Alison de Burgh.
The Revenger’s Tragedy runs at Nottingham Playhouse from Friday 28 October until Saturday 12 November.