Review: Powerful performances in absorbing and thrilling drama

Punishment Without Revenge at the Belgrade Theatre. Picture by Jane Hobson.

Lope de Vega, a contemporary of Shakespeare, wrote over 2,000 plays. Many are masterpieces, and this, one of more than 500 which survive, is surely one of his finest.

The adventures of the philandering Duke of Ferrara are curtailed by the need to produce a legitimate heir. He sends his much loved illegitimate son Federico (Nick Barber) to collect his new bride Cassandra, Duchess of Mantua (Frances McNamee). But they fall in love, which leads to a tale of passionate but impossible love.

William Hoyland delivers a powerful performance as the Duke, and the dignity and desperation of the love affair between Federico and Cassandra is vividly expressed.

Aurora (Katie Lightfoot) radiates the heartache and jealousy of the rejected woman and Simon Scardifield as Federico’s discerning manservant is the perfect foil for the intensity of emotion played out on this spare set.

The themes are familiar, fast-paced and skillfully characterised with language made fresh and accessible in a new translation by Meredith Oakes.

Wit and passion are always engaging and this tale of the conflict between honour and forbidden love is an absorbing and thrilling drama. Highly recommended.

Kate Wiltshire