Sir Peter, directing, lays it straight, and emotionally unadorned. So do his matchless lead performers, Judi Dench and Michael Pennington. Filumena is a reformed prostitute who has married a top local confectioner, Domenico, on her supposed deathbed. The play starts with her waiting to sort out the nurse from Bologna who's waiting to pounce on the widower. Dame Judi has many weapons in her armoury.
Anger is one of the most formidable.
If looks could kill, poor old Domenico, not to mention the nurse, were obliterated on their way from the dressing rooms. Her rampaging vendetta has waited 25 years, and now we hear about the three grown-up sons, one of whom Domenico sired. One is a shirt-maker, one a budding writer, one a plumber. They are splendidly played by John Gordon Sinclair, Laurence Mitchell and Jason Watkins. Apparently, they represent aspects of the struggling post-war Italy, and their reconciliation a blueprint for the new social order.