The Duchess (of Malfi)

You should know: I sing at parties, I wear colourful dresses, I am headstrong, I won't wear my hair up because you say I should, or do this because you prefer it, in fact I might do the other just to be contrary, but I am utterly and always myself.



The Duchess is a young widow. Her husband is dead, she is free. But her financial position, sexual freedom and youth mean that she could be dangerous, she could get to determine her own life. That is if she isn't stopped first.



Terrified by her sudden power and its implications, her brothers Ferdinand and The Cardinal seek to block The Duchess' desire to re-marry, repress her agency, and dismantle both her authority and spirit through any means necessary, with horrifying results and bloody vengeance from the most unexpected of sources . . .

The Duchess (of Malfi) premiered at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in May 2019



Zinnie Harris's plays include the multi-award-winning Further than the Furthest Thing (National Theatre/Tron Theatre; winner of the 1999 Peggy Ramsay Award, 2001 John Whiting Award, Edinburgh Fringe First Award), How to Hold Your Breath (Royal Court Theatre; joint winner of the Berwin Lee Award), The Wheel (National Theatre of Scotland; joint winner of the 2011 Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award), Nightingale and Chase (Royal Court Theatre), Midwinter, Solstice (both RSC), Fall (Traverse Theatre/RSC), By Many Wounds (Hampstead Theatre) and the trilogy This Restless House (Citizens Theatre/National Theatre of Scotland), based on Aeschylus' Oresteia. Also, Ibsen's A Doll's House for the Donmar Warehouse, Strindberg's Miss Julie for the National Theatre of Scotland and Webster's The Duchess (of Malfi) (Royal Lyceum Theatre). Zinnie received an Arts Foundation Fellowship for playwriting, and was Writer in Residence at the RSC, 2000-2001. She is Professor of Playwriting and Screenwriting at St Andrews University, and was the Associate Director at the Traverse Theatre from 2015-2018.