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The Malcontent

By: John Marston
Directed by: Ethan McSweeny
Genre: Tragicomedy
Cast: Randy Harrison, Matthew Rauch, Michael Stuhlbarg.
Where: Red Bull Theater
When: November, 17 2008
Source: Nationmaster, biowww.net
The Malcontent is a play written by the playwright and satirist John Marston in around 1603. It was first performed by the boy players of the Blackfriars theatre company, and was later taken over by the King's Men, the adult playing company for which Shakespeare worked, and performed at the Globe Theatre. The King's Men production featured a new induction, written by John Webster, and several new scenes, probably written by Marston himself. These additions may have been necessary because the original play was too short for the King's Men's purposes: the boy company plays tended to involve more musical interludes than those of the adult companies, and so be less long. John Marston (October 7, 1576 - June 25, 1634) was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. ... The modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, in London. ...

The induction to this revised version is a metatheatrical one, in which the play's actors and its onstage spectators comment on the drama that is to follow and discuss the 'bitterness' of its satire.

The Malcontent was the first tragicomedy to be written in English. It tells the story of the deposed duke Altofront, who has adopted the alter ego of Malevole, a malcontented parasite, in order to try to regain his lost dukedom. Malevole is an angry satirist-figure, who attacks the corruption and decadence of the court he lives in. The play has often been read as a critique of the court of James I and the immorality of his courtiers. Tragicomedy (or dark comedy or black comedy) refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. ... James VI of Scotland/James I of England and Ireland (Charles James Stuart) (June 19, 1566 – March 27, 1625) was King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland and was the first to style himself King of Great Britain. ...(source)

The Malcontent is often categorized as a revenge play, although it is quite unlike Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, or The Revenger's Tragedy (uncertain authorship). Even though deceit, betrayal, disguises, and attempted murders are essential elements of the plot, The Malcontent lacks the brutality that characterizes other Elizabethan and Jacobean revenge plays. Unexpectedly, as the play develops, Malevole, the disguised Duke of Genoa, shows some willingness to forgive others for their past injustices. The recovery and restoration of character becomes more important than revenge.

The Malcontent makes good reading. Cascading betrayals and unexpected twists maintained my interest throughout all five acts. Unlike many contemporaneous plays, the plot is not complicated by extraneous subplots. The action, although sometimes convoluted, is all tightly connected. All in all, I found the The Malcontent to be easier reading than most Elizabethan and Jacobean plays.

Induction: Act I is preceded by an Induction by John Webster, a six page witty discussion among five of the Globe Theatre actors (including Richard Burbage) regarding the author's intentions and recent modifications to the play itself. Apparently, The Malcontent had been previously staged by a rival theatre, the Children of the Queen's Revels at Blackfriars. While of interest to scholars in unraveling the early history of Marston's play, this induction is not germane to the plot itself.

Staging: In the introduction Bernard Harris, the editor of the New Mermaids edition, describes The Malcontent as "a theatrically ambitious and bewilderingly active play, rich in details of staging." Scenes require attendants, pages, lights, ladies, processions, music, dancing, costumes, jewelry, feasts, and even the devising of a masque. (source)




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Edited by Marcy