Word: duchesses
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Within this rigid constraint, the actors deliver mannered performances that are in several cases impeccable. David Cort, as the evil brother who engineers the Duchess' downfall, is unremittingly sinister. A Cardinal with a Borgia-like disregard for the moral teachings of the Church, he covets the wealth of his sister, a young widow, and cold-bloodedly arranges her excommunication and then her death. The Cardinal seduces and discards young women, betrays his brother, an ally in the conspiracy against the duchess, and is finally himself assassinated. The audience applauds when the Cardinal dies: Cort's portrayal allows for no sympathy...
...loathsome villain. Half-naked, he revels in his own corruption and derides the courtiers who hide their inward decay with fine clothes and a gracious manner. He listens at keyholes, squirming on the floor as he does, and obtains the evidence of her clandestine marriage that dooms the hapless Duchess. Sands mimes better than anyone else in the cast. Referred to more than once as a serpent, he slithers across the stage. Sands' first entrance is a masterpiece of--literally--insinuation...
...cruelest, if most honest, of the three villains if Ferdinand, the Duchess' other brother. Shiels and Raymond have gambled heavily here, casting a woman, Kate Levin, as the lustful Ferdinand, but their bet pays off. Ferdinand is passionately in love with his own sister: Levin's casting makes incest all the more unsettling. Insanely jealous of his sister's husband, Ferdinand destroys his sister rather than see her happy with a man he thinks unworthy of her. Unlike Cort and Sands, Levin moves awkwardly--on purpose. Ferdinand struggles against an over-whelming passion, giving in to impulse and then regretting...
...only performer who seems ill at east with the restrictions of this production is Kim Bendheim in the title role. Bendheim tries for something more than a one-dimensional characterization. Her Duchess is a skittish teenager, determined to do just as she pleases. She falls in love with her steward, contracting a secret marriage with him, and that mesalliance causes her downfall. Yet Bendheim does not make the Duchess a giddy and thoughtless girl. Though young, the Duchess is nevertheless a great aristocrat, fully aware of the responsibilities of her social position and of the danger in which her marriage...
Attempting to be both proud and passionate, Bendheim has a difficult task. In her emphasis on the Duchess' youthful audacity, she stumbles over long sentences and leaves us unsure this reckless girl could deceive her cunning brother for even a little while. In the second half of the play, when the Duchess' pride sustains her through her misfortunes, Bendheim occasionally slips into facile arrogance, leaving the Duchess' anguish only hinted at. But these are momentary lapses in what remains a rewarding performance. Bendheim's characterization, while not wholly realized, is subtler and more human than the effective but confined performances...