The Duchess of Malfi

★★★★★ Time Out

★★★★ The Guardian, Evening Standard, The Observer, i, The Stage

“Whether we fall by ambition, blood or lust
Like diamonds, we are cut with our own dust”

You fall in love.
You get married.
You have children.
You live happily ever after.

Almeida Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall follows her Olivier Award-winning production of Summer and Smoke and Three Sisters with The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster’s electrifying revenge tragedy about rage, resistance and a deadly lust for power.

When the Duchess falls in love with her steward Antonio, her corrupt brothers embark on a chilling plot to destroy her marriage, power and agency. What begins as a jealous plan to extinguish her love becomes a bloodthirsty quest to extinguish her life.

Lydia Wilson returns to the Almeida to play the Duchess, following her Olivier Award-nominated performance in King Charles III.

Photograph by Nadav Kander