Volpone, and: The Duchess of Malfi, and: Doctor Faustus (review)

Recorded live at the Greenwich Theatre, Stage on Screen captures in exciting detail Elizabeth Freestone's productions of Volpone, The Duchess of Malfi, and Doctor Faustus. These quality films bring to life neglected early modern gems and make a valuable contribution to the widening of theatrical transmission beyond the stage. While National Theatre Live broadcasts internationally, using advanced special effects to translate live productions into cinema, Stage on Screen's understated use of technology preserves and enhances the traditional theatrical performance whilst enabling it to endure beyond the moment. To supplement the DVDs, Stage on Screen offers a stimulating range of new teaching resources. Its website supplies useful information on the plays' historical and critical background, as well as on the casts, crew, costume and set designs. Additionally, international scholars at all stages are able to download study aids, watch video interviews, and join a mailing list to stay updated on future productions.

Volpone literally laughs in the face of those who would still label Jonson Shakespeare's inferior, especially in regards to comedy. The play's magnificent humor fizzes amidst its darkly satiric commentary on emergent capitalism and the degeneration of social, familial, moral, and legal codes. Richard Bremmer's wickedly charismatic Volpone is showcased in carefully angled shots and momentary close-ups. A few of the most noteworthy allow the screen audience to witness his silent "flux[es] of laughter" during Mosca's mockery of the deaf Corbaccio and the subtle extension of his middle finger when his supposedly weak hands are maneuvered before the court to indicate his inability to "stroke a lady's breasts" (Volpone 1.4.134; 4.4.28). The play's poetic judgments are also retained in long shots of the judges located in the uppers during the court cases; these create a sense of distance between the judges and the audience, situating the latter in closer proximity with the performers on the main stage. This demands—as Jonson did—that the spectators recognize themselves in the characters and learn the same lessons. Throughout, Stage on Screen's careful rendering of Freestone's directorial choices, which make superb use of what we know about early modern theatrical practices, ensures that Jonson's multifaceted and thought-provoking work shines.

The Duchess of Malfi opens with a crowded and solemnly ceremonial funeral. It closes by zooming out from a bare and blood-soaked stage. These moments effectively frame the progressive spread of "death and disease through the whole land" when the nation's fonts of power are "poison[ed] near the head" (Malfi 1.1.15, 14). Stage on Screen's Malfi, however, does not quite live up to the standards of its Volpone. Much of the play's potency originates in Webster's taut eloquence, where language works harder than action to strike its audience's hearts, and from the spirited but dignified Duchess who "stains the time past, lights the time to come" (Malfi 1.1.209). Neither is displayed to their greatest effect. Frequent long shots detach the audience from the characters by limiting access to facial expressions and drawing attention not to the crucial notion that the world is a stage but to the stage as its own world. Darkly dominant close-ups of the madmen threaten to...