The Duchess
of Malfi

6th production
1956-57 season

Form 3547 requested

PHOENIX
THEATRE

189 Second Avenue
New York 3, N. Y.

BULK RATE
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID

NEW YORK, N. Y.
Permit No. 7651

RECOMMENDED NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANTS

SIXTY-EIGHT RESTAURANT

59 Fifth Ave. AL 5-8744

"A Tradition of Fine North
Italian-French Food Since 1927"

Free Parking During Dinner & Show

COOKERY Lafayette

Cor. University Pl. & 8th St.

Lunch - Dinner - Supper

JADE MOUNTAIN RESTAURANT

197 Second Ave. at 12th St.

"Specializing in real Chinese
food for the last 25 years"

JOHN'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

302 E. 12th St.

"Established 1910.

Our cuisine is unsurpassed"

The MOSKOWITZ & LUPOWITZ
RESTAURANT

2nd Ave. at 2nd St. OR 4-0362

"Charcoal Broilings
and Continental Music"
Catering, 20 to 100

RATNER'S DAIRY RESTAURANT

111 Second Ave. GR 3-7374

"Famous for Blintzes,
Kreplach, Stuffed Cabbage
and Other Delicacies"

You are on our preferred mailing list.
If you act promptly you will receive the choicest locations.

MAIL ORDER FORM FOR "THE DUCHESS OF MALFI"

For your convenience—and for best locations—use this order blank

Treasurer

PHOENIX THEATRE

2nd Ave. and 12th St., N.Y.C.

Date

Enclosed is my
Money Order
Check for $

for

at $

each

(No. of seats)

in

for

matinee

(Location)

(Day and date)

Evening

or

matinee

(2nd choice day and date)

Evening

Name Address

City Zone State

Please enclose stamped, self-addressed envelope for return of tickets

491

["Form 3547 requested", "The Duchess\nof Malfi", "6th production\n1956-57 season", "PHOENIX\nTHEATRE", "189 Second Avenue\nNew York 3, N. Y.", "BULK RATE\nU. S. POSTAGE\nPAID", "NEW YORK, N. Y.\nPermit No. 7651", "RECOMMENDED NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANTS", "SIXTY-EIGHT RESTAURANT", "59 Fifth Ave. AL 5-8744", "\"A Tradition of Fine North\nItalian-French Food Since 1927\"", "Free Parking During Dinner & Show", "COOKERY Lafayette", "Cor. University Pl. & 8th St.", "Lunch - Dinner - Supper", "JADE MOUNTAIN RESTAURANT", "197 Second Ave. at 12th St.", "\"Specializing in real Chinese\nfood for the last 25 years\"", "JOHN'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT", "302 E. 12th St.", "\"Established 1910.", "Our cuisine is unsurpassed\"", "The MOSKOWITZ & LUPOWITZ\nRESTAURANT", "2nd Ave. at 2nd St. OR 4-0362", "\"Charcoal Broilings\nand Continental Music\"", "Catering, 20 to 100", "RATNER'S DAIRY RESTAURANT", "111 Second Ave. GR 3-7374", "\"Famous for Blintzes,\nKreplach, Stuffed Cabbage\nand Other Delicacies\"", "You are on our preferred mailing list.\nIf you act promptly you will receive the choicest locations.", "MAIL ORDER FORM FOR \"THE DUCHESS OF MALFI\"", "For your convenience—and for best locations—use this order blank", "Treasurer", "PHOENIX THEATRE", "2nd Ave. and 12th St., N.Y.C.", "Date..................................................", "Enclosed is my\nMoney Order\n\nCheck for $....................for....................@ $\n(No. of seats) each", "in.................................................. for.................................................. Matinee\n(Location) (Day and date) Evening", "or....................................

## WHO'S WHO IN THE CAST

JACQUELINE BROOKES (Duchess of Malfi)

Miss Brookes, who trained in London's Royal Academy, has been seen at the Phoenix in another of John Webster's violent tragedies, "The White Devil," and in the American Shakespeare Festival's "Measure for Measure." She acted in Judith Anderson's Paris "Medea" and this season in "The Misanthrope." Last summer she appeared at Stratford, Conn. in "King John" and "Measure for Measure."

JAN FARRAND (Julia)

Miss Farrand had been a concert pianist before she launched an acting career as leading lady at Cambridge's Brattle Theatre for five years. She had portrayed thirteen of the Bard's ladies before she made her Broadway debut in "The Relapse," with Cyril Ritchard. She has been seen in "Misalliance," "Portrait of a Lady," "Tonight in Samarkand" and, at City Center, in "Love's Labor's Lost," "Henry IV" and as Desdemona in "Othello."

HURD HATFIELD (The Cardinal)

Mr. Hatfield appeared under Laurence Olivier's direction in Christopher Fry's "Venus Observed" and has been seen in "Anastasia," as the embittered matador in "Bullfight," the dual roles of Lord Byron and Don Quixote in Tennessee Williams' "Camino Real." This season he co-starred with Geraldine Page in "The Immoralist," played the Devil in Stravinskys' "Histoire du Soldat," and had the title role in the American Shakespeare Festival's "Julius Caesar" at Stratford, Conn. His several films include "Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Dragon Seed."

EARLE HYMAN (Antonio)

One of our busiest actors, Mr. Hyman has appeared, in the last two years, on Broadway in "No Time for Sergeants," the title role in "Mister Johnson," as Didi in "Waiting for Godot," at the Phoenix as Dunois in "Saint Joan," and at Stratford, Conn. in "Julius Caesar," "The Tempest" and "King John." He created the part of Rudolf in "Anna Lucia" in New York and London, has acted in "Othello," "The Climate of Eden" and "The Merchant of Venice." His first film is "The Bamboo Prison."

PERNELL ROBERTS (Bosola)

Mr. Roberts, who just concluded a Phoenix engagement as Petruchio in the American Shakespeare Festival's "Taming of the Shrew," acted in Arthur Laurents' "A Clearing in the Woods" earlier this season. With New York's Shakespearewrights, he won the New York Drama Desk's Vernon Rice Award for his performances as Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" and as Macbeth. Last season he was on Broadway in "The Lovers" and at Stratford, Conn. as Petruchio.

JOSEPH WISEMAN (Ferdinand)

Mr. Wiseman's first New York play was "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" and his most recent role was as the Inquisitor in "The Lark." His many distinguished performances include Edmund in John Houseman's "King Lear," Fuseli in the "Golden Boy" revival, Charlie the cat-burglar in "Detective Story," and memorable assignments in "Candle in the Wind," "Journey to Jerusalem," "Antony and Cleopatra" and "The Three Sisters." His films include "Viva Zapata," "With These Hands," "The Prodigal," "Detective Story" and the soon-due "Garment Jungle."

Where to go
after the show

Ibert
FRENCH RESTAURANT

42 E. 11th St., N.Y.C. • OR 3-3890

from a snack
to a meal
try the...

ש"כ

2ND AVE.

## DELICATESSEN

and restaurant
the only Hebrew National on 2nd Ave.
CORNER 10th ST.

OPENING AT THE PHOENIX APRIL 25 — A NEW MUSICAL!

TICKETS ON SALE AT THE BOX-OFFICE OR BY MAIL

## "LIVIN' THE LIFE"

Based on Mark Twain's immortal Mississippi River stories

Book by Dale Wasserman and Bruce Geller

Music by Jack Urbont
Lyrics by Bruce Geller

Production Directed by David Alexander

Choreography by
John Butler
Settings by
William and Jean Eckart

Musical Director
Anton Coppola

ASTI
RESTAURANT

"Just walk a few blocks
West on 12th Street"

13 EAST 12th ST.

ALgon. 5-9773 ALgon. 5-9095

OPEN 5:30 P.M. - 3 A.M.

## SIXTH PRODUCTION 1956-57 SEASON

PHOENIX THEATRE

"The Duchess
of Malfi"

Bolozník

## SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

We always have two or three irons in the fire here at the Phoenix. One of the ones that intrigues us most at the moment is the "Surprise Party" we are planning to throw on Sunday night, April 28th, here on our stage. To entertain our guests, a galaxy of glamorous theatrical lights will be on hand. You who come to the Phoenix regularly will recall some of them happily: Kaye Ballard, Jack Cassidy, Harvey Lembeck, Mildred Natbeck, Bibi Osterwald, Charlotte Rae, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Nancy Walker. Others of them will be making their first appearance at 2nd Avenue and 12th Street: Alfred Drake, Tom Ewell, Hermione Gingold, Shirley Jones, Nora Kaye, Cyril Ritchard, Menasha Skulnik among them. Lehman Engel will wield the baton.

What all these performers will do is our secret (that is why we call it a surprise party): some things will be seen for the first time here or anywhere else in New York. The only thing we can say for publication is that it will be an evening of fun and gaiety which those who are here will not soon forget.

Why are we doing this? Frankly, to make new friends and some extra money. The evening will be put on by Theatre Incorporated, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation which next season will take the Phoenix under its wing and help it expand its services—cultural, educational and theatrical. That means that invitations for the Surprise Party (costing from $35 down to $5) will be tax-deductible.

Some of our audience may feel that they want to contribute in a more substantial way than they have to the future support of the Phoenix, even as do the artists who are contributing their talent on April 28th. For such persons here is the opportunity. We have never made a public solicitation for funds— we are not doing so now, for we feel we shall be giving our guests more than their money's worth. Still, those who come to the Surprise Party will actually be simultaneously participating in the gala and helping the Phoenix in a very real way.

If you are not a Phoenix subscriber who has already received an invitation, write to Fredric March, Co-Chairman of the Committee, at the Surprise Party Office, 246 West 44th Street or call Miss White at LO. 3-6560 and let us know that you want to come.

T. EDWARD HAMBLETON

NORRIS HOUGHTON

RED LIGHTS INDICATE EXITS

FIRE NOTICE: The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire please do not run—WALK TO THAT EXIT.

EDW. F. CAVANAGH, JR.
FIRE COMMISSIONER

Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and distract actors and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches during the performance and interventions. This violates a city ordinance and renders the offender liable to ARREST. It is argued that all patrons refrain from lighting matches in the auditorium of the theatre.

IN THE EVENT OF AN AIR RAID ALARM REMAIN IN YOUR SEATS AND OBEY THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE MANAGEMENT.
—HERBERT R. O'BRIEN, DIRECTOR OF CIVIL DEFENSE

The Management is not responsible for personal apparel or property of patrons unless properly checked with the theatre attendant. Please are advices to take their coats and wraps with them whenever they leave their seats.

Eccles are requested to remove their hats.

491

PHOENIX

THEATRE

T. EDWARD HAMBLETON

NORRIS HOUGHTON

in association with

JOHN HOUSEMAN

presents

# THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

an Elizabethan Thriller by

JOHN WEBSTER

with

Hurd
HATFIELD

Earle
HYMAN

Pernell
ROBERTS

Joseph
WISEMAN

JACQUELINE BROOKES

JAN FARRAND

Directed and Designed by JACK LANDAU

Costumes by
SAUL BOLASNI

Music by
LEE HOBY

Production and Lighting by JEAN ROSENTHAL

Festival Stage by ROUBEN TER-ARUTUNIAN

## CAST OF CHARACTERS

(in order of speaking)

ANTONIO, steward of the household of the Duchess. EARLE HYMAN
DELIÓ
BOSOLA
THE CARDINAL
FERDINAND, Duke of Calabria, his brother. RICHARD EASTON
PERNELL ROBERTS
HURD HATFIELD
JOSEPH WISEMAN

RODERIGO
CASTRUCCIO
SILVIO
PESCARA
GRISOLAN

Friends and Attendants at Malfi.

LOUIS EDMONDS
JUSTICE WATSON
CHARLES MACAULAY
PATRICK HINES
WILLIAM COTTRELL

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, sister of the Cardinal
and Ferdinand.

JACQUELINE BROOKES

CARIOLA, her companion. PRISCILLA MORRILL

AN OLD WOMAN. DOROTHY PATTEN

JULIA, Castruccio's wife. JAN FARRAND

A DOCTOR. ELLIS RABB

A FOOTMAN. MITCHELL AGRUSS

Guests, Servants, Officers.

JACK CANNON
ANTHONY HOLLAND
JOHN RAGIN
BARBARA LORD

Song and Litany are sung by Russell Oberlin

Scene: Malfi, Rome, Milan

## CREDITS

Scenery by Nolan Studios. Curtains and dreaperies by Joo Hansen. Properties by Newel Art Studios. Lights by Century Lighting Co. Costumes executed by Eaves.

## STAFF FOR PHOENIX THEATRE

Carl Fisher General Manager
Not Parnes Company Manager
Ben Kornswalg Publicity Director
Robert Ganshaw Press Representative
Robert Woods Production Stage Manager
Ronald Bates Stage Manager
Cell Ashley Production Assist.
Roberta Unger Subscription & Education Manager
Elizabeth Gordon Subscription & Education Assist.
Omar Lerman Assistant to the Manager

John Hawkins Liaison
Dorothy Biss Executive Secretary
James Kamin Press Assistant
Richard Hopkins Treasurer
George M. Cohan Assistant Treasurer
Ben Miller Musical Director
Warren Brady Master Carpenter
Thomas McAllister Master Electrician
John L. Ward Master Propertyman
Marlana Torres Wardrobe Mistress

## SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

We always have two or three irons in the fire here at the Phoenix. One of the ones that intrigues us most at the moment is the "Surprise Party" we are planning to throw on Sunday night, April 28th, here on our stage. To entertain our guests, a galaxy of glamorous theatrical lights will be on hand. You who come to the Phoenix regularly will recall some of them happily: Kaya Ballard, Jack Cassidy, Harvey Lembeck, Mildred Natwick, Bibi Osterwald, Charlotte Rae, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Nancy Walker. Others of them will be making their first appearance at 2nd Avenue and 12th Street: Alfred Drake, Tom Ewell, Hermione Gingold, Shirley Jones, Nora Kaye, Cyril Ritchard, Menasha Skulnik among them. Lehman Engel will wield the baton.

Why are we doing this? Frankly, to make new friends and some extra money, the evening will be put on by Theatre Incorporated, a non-profit, tax-exempt corporation which next season will take the Phoenix under its wing and help it expand its services—cultural, educational and theatrical. That means that invitations for the Surprise Party (costing from $35 down to $5) will be tax-deductible.

T. EDWARD HAMBLETON

NORRIS HOUGHTON

FIRE NOTICE: The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire please do not rub—WALK TO THAT EXIT.

Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and distract actors and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches during the performance and interlaminations. This violates a city ordinance and renders the offerer liable to ARBIT. It is urged all patrons refrain from lighting matches in the auditorium of this theatre.

IN THE EVENT OF AN AIR RAID ALARM REMAIN IN YOUR SEATS AND OBEY THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE MANAGEMENT.
—HERBERT R. O'BRIEN, DIRECTORS OF CIVIL DEFENSE.

The Management is not responsible for personal apparel or property of patrons unless property checked with the theatre attendant. Patrons are advised to take their coats and wraps with them whenever they leave their seats.

Todays are requested to remove their hats.

491

## PHOENIX THEATRE

T. EDWARD HAMBLETON

NORRIS HOUGHTON

in association with

JOHN HOUSEMAN

presents

# THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

an Elizabethan Thriller by

JOHN WEBSTER

with

Hurd
HATFIELD

Earle
HYMAN

Pernell
ROBERTS

Joseph
WISEMAN

JACQUELINE BROOKES

JAN FARRAND

Costumes by
SAUL BOLASNI

Music by
LEE HOIBY

## CAST OF CHARACTERS

(In order of speaking)

DELIÓ RICHARD EASTON

BOSOLA PERNELL ROBERTS

THE CARDINAL HURD HATFIELD

FERDINAND, Duke of Calabria, his brother. JOSEPH WISEMAN

JACQUELINE BROOKES

CARIOLA, her companion

PRISCILLA MORRILL

AN OLD WOMAN

DOROTHY PATTEN

JULIA, Castruccio's wife

JAN FARRAND

A DOCTOR

ELLIS RABB

A FOOTMAN

MITCHELL AGRUS

Guests, Servants, Officers.

Scene: Malfi, Rome, Milan

## CREDITS

Scenery by Nolan Studios. Curtains and draperies by Joe Hansen. Properties by Newel Art Studios. Lights by Century Lighting Co. Costumes executed by Eaves.

## STAFF FOR PHOENIX THEATRE

Carl Fisher General Manager
Nat Parnes Company Manager
Ben Kornswang Publicity Director
Robert Gantshaw Press Representative
Robert Woods Production Stage Manager
Ronald Bates Stage Manager
Cell Ashley Production Assist.
Roberta Unger Subscription & Education Manager
Elizabeth Gordon Subscription & Education Assist.
Omar Lerman Assistant to the Manager

John Hopkins Liaison
Dorothy Blass Executive Secretary
James Kamins Press Assistant
Richard Hopkins Treasurer
George M. Gohan Assistant Treasurer
Ben Miller Musical Director
Warren Brady Master Carpenter
Thomas McAllin Master Electrician
John L. Ward Master Propertyman
Maria Torres Wardrobe Mistress

1.

JOHN WEBSTER --- A MODERN ELIZABETHAN

by Jack Landau

Director of THE DUCHESS OF MALFI which
opens at the Phoenix Theatre, Tuesday,

March 19

Given the tremendous resurgence of public and critical interest
in Shakespeare during the last few years, it is not only desirable
but essential that we have an opportunity of seeing and performing
plays like THE DUCHESS OF MALFI. To know only Shakespeare and to
judge the Elizabethan era from his works alone without reference
to his successful competitors and admired contemporaries, would be
like asking some future playgoer to judge our American theatrical
art in the first half of the twentieth century solely from the
plays of Eugene O'Neill.

Webster is a brilliant dramatist in his own right, whose
reputation has been eclipsed over the years by the giant figure
of Shakespeare. He is more than that; he is the Elizabethan
Elizabethan! In his plays all the virtues and vices of that
great era are exaggerated. Besides seeing a wonderfully exciting
play, we have a chance, in THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, to watch these
forces more clearly at work; the vices more vicious, the virtues
more blameless, the mechanism of Magic more spacious and macabre.

But the most persuasive and fascinating dimension of this
plays is its contemporaneity and relevance to our own time and our

2.

own psychology. It is twentieth century anxieties and problems which afflict the gallery of characters here --- the dilemma in action, the inevitable error in judgement and the difficulty and danger in decision. Compulsion, frustration and the desire for power all operate here. Treachery in high places, anatomised to the last detail, passion, innocence, horror: these are the things we see all around us and the elements from which Webster created his drama. What Rupert Brooke called his "foul and indestructible vitality" is very much with us today.

As blood-and-thunder melodrama, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI has a very different temper from Webster's other and earlier masterpiece, THE WHITE DEVIL, though the cast of characters bear many resemblances. There are twins, brother and sister, and an older brother --- the only remaining members of a great aristocratic family. Surrounding them are the "types" --- the disenchanted Bossola, the honest Antonio, the worldly, indolent and corruptible court. But they are handled here in a different and fascinating way.

In THE WHITE DEVIL the extreme violence of the opening carried the entire play: it begins with a thunderclap of bitterness that never lets up for a moment until the final curtain. In the DUCHESS OF MALFI we move in a much quieter atmosphere, the real violence of which does not erupt until the machinery of the plot grinds to its inexorable conclusion of blood and violence. The atmosphere of the Duchess' household in the beginning of the play is almost light-hearted, certainly social. Later, through this, insanity and horror take on an added dimension --- it is like finding a nest of snakes in a simple parlour game. Domestic problems which had seemed simple, as long as they were confined to the Duchess and her confidants, take

3.

on a nightmare quality when they are seen through the eyes of her
jealous and rapacious brothers. Indeed, all the characters, begun
lightly, must regard what is going on before them as more horrible than
they could possibly have imagined. And that, possibly, is the secret
of Webster's art: to be impartial and exact about the terror. Here
again we face the modernity of the DUCHESS OF MALFI. It is precisely
in the pitiless exactitude of detail in the nightmare that we recognise
the true, contemporary "surrealist" image: we hear the recital of
dreadful events and feel, on the surface, only a slight pain; then,
when we look again, we can hardly believe that these events have been
murder, infanticide, incest, treachery, perversion and all the catalogue
of sin and crime.

And yet through the turmoil of this half-world of shadows, plots
and counter-plots, tortures and insanities, Webster manages to retain
his control. What seems to be violence for its own sake is really an
extension of the characters portrayed; and Webster's style, so different
from Shakespeare's, more concise and elliptical, yet no less beautiful,
is able to contain both worlds — the brilliance of the surface and
the horror beneath.

###

From Ben Kornzweig
1440 Broadway, NYC
PE 6-2340

For Release Tuesday (March 19)

"THE DUCHESS OF MALFI" OPENS AT
PHOENIX THEATRE TONIGHT (TUES. MARCH 19)

John Webster's Elizabethan thriller, "The Duchess of Malfi,"
has one of its rare productions when it begins a limited engagement
at the Phoenix Theatre tonight (Tues. Mar. 19) as a presentation of
T. Edward Hambleton and Norris Houghton, of the Phoenix, in associa-
tion with John Houseman. This is the sixth production in the down-
town playhouse's current season.

Under the direction of Jack Landau, who directed the Phoenix
presentation of Webster's "The White Devil" two seasons back,
the cast includes Jacqueline Brookes in the title role, Jan Farrand
(Julia), Hurd Hatfield (the Cardinal), Earle Hyman (Antonio),
Pernell Roberts (Bosola) and Joseph Wiseman (Ferdinand).

Costumes are by Saul Bolasni. Music is by Lee Hoiby. The
festival stage is by Rouben Ter-Arutunian; production and lighting
are by Jean Rosenthal.