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'It's
not a great title', claims Barrie Rutter, director of this production
of A Woman Killed with Kindness.
Using
it as the companion piece to his Northern Broadsides touring company
production of Henry V, it has to fit into the same set and use the
same company of actors; actors who, as is ever the style of Northern
Broadsides, are ordinary-looking people with ordinary northern accents.
Thomas
Heywood wrote this play 400 years ago and deliberately set it in
Yorkshire. Known for breaking the southern stranglehold on classical
performance through their use of natural northern voices, Northern
Broadsides had to prove that this gimmick isn't the only reason
why they are such a successful company.
Heywood
was a prolific playwright, having written or been involved with
the production of over 200 plays. It has been said that some of
his work influenced Shakespeare (Measure to Measure bears much resemblance
to A Woman Killed).This piece borders on the morality play.
A domestic
tragedy, a seemingly idyllic marriage is destroyed by a woman's
unkindness to her husband, through her adultery. It is a crime for
which her husband could easily have killed both she and her lover
and escaped punishment. Instead, he bestows her with unbelievable
kindness, sparing her life, banishing her to his mansion, ensuring
she wants for nothing.
By
doing so he destroys her with guilt. A parallel plot displays the
contemporary notions of honour of Heywood's time, born of orthodox
Christianity.
The
establishing scene portrays an ideal world and marriage. Intentionally
enhanced by Rutter, the entire wedding scene was invented and comes
complete with traditional music and folk dancing. The demise of
the husband and wife relationship is set in stone from here on in.
Heywood
was a pragmatic playwright, rarely seeing need for preparation (We
need babies! The babies appear!). A rarely performed piece (the
last was 12 years ago by the RSC), Northern Broadsides do this Elizabethan
drama justice. Their work is as ever refreshing and popular, but
this is possibly not the most accessible piece they have chosen
in recent times.
When
the language is more immediate through its direct delivery it is
easier to concentrate on the story. However, it is best to remember
that A Woman Killed with Kindness is a moralistic period piece and
no amount of dancing or northern-ness can detract from this. It
isn't a great title, but it does capture the essence of the play.
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