Two “Jacobean” Malfis: Controversy and Reception in 1892 and 2010

Drawing on Susan Bennett's notion of "Jacobean" as a term attached to contemporary productions of Shakespeare's contemporaries, which "flaunt...thematic distinctions concerned with transgression, dissidence, and desire", this article investigates two productions of The Duchess of Malfi, in 1892 and 2010.  William Poel's production for the Independent Theatre Society took place at the intersection between the progressive theatre movement of the late nineteenth century and the growing interest in "authentic" staging conditions, though it also appears to draw on the language of melodrama and the trappings of the commercial theatre.  Punchdrunk's version combined their well-known site-specific approach, which was interpreted by some spectators as a once-innovative technique applied once again to a famous text, with music by the composer Torsten Rasch, whose previous works had included a cantata based on the lyrics of the heavy metal band Rammstein.  The article expands the historical frame within which Malfi's "Jacobean" status is considered, suggesting that both demonstrate the power of non-Shakespearean drama to destabilise assumptions about "authentic" British culture and the version of the past, which supports current visions of that culture.  It considers the way in which these productions provided a site for cultural controversy, and suggests that this potential may be ebbing away with each performance and syllabus, as Malfi becomes the most safely canonical non-Shakespearean play from the era.