If “’Tis Pity She’s a Whore” debuted today, John Ford’s gory, perverse play would land in a downtown hole and possibly cause a ruckus comparable to past NEA scandals.
But “Pity” was published in 1633, so it’s considered a classic and appears in fancy places like BAM, where Declan Donnellan’s high-energy, modern-dress production opened last night.
Amazing what nearly four centuries can do to our (shock) values.
Or not: Time hasn’t tamed this Jacobean stunner one bit.
It’s not just that the central couple, Giovanni (a brooding Jack Gordon) and Annabella (Lydia Wilson, lithe and teen-like), are siblings. Or that they make passionate declarations to each other and have sex. Or that Giovanni gets his sister pregnant. What’s really upsetting is that Ford contrasts their pure love with society’s moral corruption.
To this outré premise he adds a good dose of violence — an eye is gouged, a heart’s ripped out, someone’s poisoned.
Last year Donnellan bored us with a minimal, ultra-dry “Macbeth.” But while he trimmed some characters and subplots here — the show zips by in two intermissionless hours — he’s kept most of the crazy.
The whole action now takes place in Annabella’s bedroom, festooned with posters (“True Blood,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”) and anchored by a bed covered in blood-red sheets. The worst atrocities take place in a white-tiled bathroom glimpsed in the back.
Some of the director’s choices feel gratuitous, like his decision to start things off with a group dance or the fact that the men take off their shirts and pants for no good reason.
But there’s also plenty of black humor and brutal insights. We see Giovanni go from youthful rebel to psychopath, just when Annabella tries to repent and conform with her hubby, Soranzo (Jack Hawkins).
Throughout, the show moves with a breathless momentum, while keeping everything in horrifyingly clear focus — like the best nightmares.