Radio review: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore

It's the couple of weeks of calm before the storm when London theatres gear up to grab the attention back from Edinburgh and all launch new shows at once. While they build up to that and I have a rare full week without theatre, as usual I'll top it up with radio and screen adaptations. A few years ago I listened to Radio 3's production of Lucy Prebble's The Effect, which starred Damien Molony and Pirate Jessie Buckley. It seems the two actors made the most of their time in the recording studio as at the same time they played Giovanni and Annabella, the incestuous brother and sister in John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore. In a play Pauline Harris' audio version sees as a twisted response to Romeo & Juliet, Giovanni seduces Annabella, and they begin an affair that soon leaves her pregnant.

Needing to find a husband for her quickly, they settle on Soranzo (Matthew Pidgeon,) who's not so innocent himself, having seduced and dumped the widow Hippolita (Indira Varma,) and wants a respectable marriage to move onto. The Romeo & Juliet echoes come in Giovanni having a friar (Oliver Cotton) as his confidante, while Annabella has a Nurse figure in Putana (Fenella Woolgar,) who is way too enthusiastic about encouraging her charge to shag her own brother, evidently getting a vicarious thrill out of it, perhaps imagining herself in some position or other.

Putana gets the grisliest end of all the characters for her part in the proceedings, and this is an area where audio has it all to do to match the bloodthirst of the Jacobean theatre. It's not something Harris really leans into - there's plenty of clashing blades in the climactic battle but not a lot of horror sound effects along the way. The main sound design theme is snatches of music by Jimi Hendrix and Nick Cave, which do lend a sense of urgency but don't really create an obvious setting for the story. Instead this streamlined version focuses on the central couple itself, with Molony giving us a manipulative and arrogant Giovanni, while Buckley's Annabella is swept up by his charm - despite the title, Ford is comparatively sympathetic to her as the victim of the whole affair. The main cast is completed by Enzo Cilenti as the detective-like servant Vasques, while Niall Buggy as the siblings' father is affably oblivious. It's an entertaining and clear enough telling of the story, but didn't, for me, create a mental picture as vividly as some radio dramas I've listened to.

'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford is available until December 2022 on BBC Sounds.

Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes.

Image credit: BBC.