Next weekend, the Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) Theatre Arts Department will put on the revenge tragedy production first played in 1613, “The Duchess of Malfi.” The show will open Friday, December 2 and run through Sunday, December 11.

“‘The Duchess of Malfi’ speaks to us across the years in the way that great plays do,” Director Rob Clare said in a statement. “It is not a museum piece, it’s a piece that takes humanity and pares it back to the bone and we are left to view the dissection.”

With a backdrop of exposed land, the play portrays the story of a widowed duchess, who is left in a wealthy political position after her husband’s death. She remarries in secret to a man in service, after they confess their love for each other. When the Duchess’s brothers discover their sister’s betrayal, they are driven by greed and attempt to control her power, which leads to mutual destruction.

The acclaimed Shakespearean director aimed to dissect the classical text to reveal the rawness of human nature, according to the theatre arts department.

“[Shakespeare] isn’t our history, it is our now,” Clare said in a statement. “John Webster’s ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ stands in comparison with some of Shakespeare’s work, and for that reason I think it is worth seeing and worth sharing.”

The first show is on Friday, December 2 at 8:00PM at the Studio Theatre, located near 7th street and East Campus Drive, at CSULB. Performances will run Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00PM with matinee performances at 2:00PM on December 3,10 and 11.

Tickets are $17 for general admission and $14 for seniors, students and CSULB staff. Parking is available for $7 in CSULB Parking Lot 7, next to the theatre.  

For more information, click here.