SOURCE: Review of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, in Independent, 9 May 1992. Reprinted in Theatre Record, Vol. XII, No. 10, 1992, p. 576. [In the following review, Taylor commends David Leveaux's "penetrating and pulse-quickening account" of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore at The Pit Theatre.]

Three weeks ago at the Public Theatre in New York, I saw a production of Ford's incest tragedy, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, which for breathtaking ineptitude could scarcely be improved on. Having made a kebab of his sister's heart, the Giovanni in this version went one step further and daubed the word "Cunt", in giant letters in her blood over their bed of love and death.

While it provided a shocking final image, this gory graffito also made nonsense of the play, cancelling that crucial sense you should get that—however warped and extreme his outlook or actions become—Giovanni still sincerely believes he loves his...