Women, Beware the Devil - Almeida TheatreIn Lulu Raczka’s Stuart period drama (which could bear favourable comparison with those of John Webster), the lady of the household Elizabeth (Lydia Leonard) is aghast at the inability of her brother Edward (Leo Bill) to father a legitimate heir. She arranges a suitable match but when it remains unconsummated, she seeks the assistance of a suspected witch among the house servants Agnes (Alison Oliver) to make a blood pact with The Devil (Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea) in a bid conjure a baby from the loins of her brother’s new wife Katherine (Ioanna Kimbook).
The other maids of the household succumb to madcap histrionics whilst Agnes’ satanic bargain enables her to swap places with Katherine to become lady of the house. As the Roundheads close-in after inflicting a defeat on Charles I’s cavaliers on the battlefield (which includes Edward) Elizabeth bemoans the loss of all she has clung to and held dear.
Rupert Goold once again holds the reins and elicits from his cast just the right balance between period stiffness and loosened bodices to make the rollicking yarn funny yet sinister and the effort is greatly helped by Miriam Buether’s evocative set and Evie Gurney’s period costumes.
It would be utterly pointless and rather unnecessary to try and pigeonhole the play and the production into any specific category. It transcends such constraints by being a jolly jape and a disturbing tale all at once. A number of taboo subjects are touched upon but never subdue the main drivers to the story and every member of the cast delivers a quite fabulously observed and believable character — irrespective of the occasional requirements to break the fourth wall. Above all, the Almeida’s latest offering is clever, inventive and thoroughly entertaining. To suggest otherwise would be churlish and frankly, idiotic.
