Women Beware Women Tickets

The polite society of Florence is under threat in Thomas Middleton’s “Women Beware Women”, which returns to the stage for a new production at the Olivier National Theatre in London. It will be an opportunity to witness a play that has gripped people for centuries and has as many complexities behind the scenes as it does onstage, where a convoluted web of love and betrayal threatens to harm the society of Florence.

Whilst Thomas Middleton is generally accepted as the playwright behind the work in the 1600s, there is some dispute as to true origins of “Women Beware Women”, with some arguing that a different author penned the play at a different time. The play is believed to have been written between 1612 and 1627, though the only true certainty is that it was published in 1657 with Middleton credited as its author.

The plot focuses on a range of characters that inflict a complex story on the city of Florence. First there is Isabella (Vanessa Kirby), daughter of Fabrito (James Hayes), for whom a husband is sought. However, whilst she rejects the offers of numerous bachelors, she is eventually seduced by her own uncle in the form of Hippolito (Raymond Coulthard). The plot also focuses on the exploits of Bianca (Lauren O’Neill), the second wife of Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany - Leantio (Samuel Barnett). Isabella’s auntie Livia (Harriet Walter) has procured the woman, who seduces Leantio and continues to spin a web of deceit.

But with such corruption there must be consequences and time will tell us who will pay for the misdeeds in the city of Florence.

Portraying Livia is Harriet Walter, who has appeared in a number of productions for the National Theatre. Her credits include “Dinner”, “The Children’s Hour”, “A Fair Quarrel” and “Arcadia” for the National, with other theatre work that includes “All’s Wells That Ends Well”, “The Duchess of Malfi”, “Macbeth” and “Antony and Cleopatra” for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her efforts have earned her Laurence Olivier Awards (for “Twelfth Night”, “Three Sisters” and “A Question of Geography”) and critical acclaim, plus audience recognition for films like “Sense and Sensibility”, “Atonement” and “Bright Young Things”.

Women Beware Women is on the Olivier stage of the National Theatre from Tuesday 27th April 2010 (previews from Tuesday 20th April 2010) to Tuesday 8th June 2010.