“In the midst of all their joys they shall sigh blood…”
Vice is a sardonic new musical based on a Jacobean tale of sex, intrigue and revenge by Jools Scott (composer) and Sue Curtis (librettist).
It tells the story of Vindice, come to court in disguise in order to avenge the murder of his beloved.
A wild pace and macabre humour drive the irresistible surge of the music, lyrical, passionate and chilling by turns, which captures all the power and wit of the The Revenger’s Tregedy and translates it into a vibrant jazz-fuelled new idiom for a modern audience.
The first chamber production of the whole musical took place as part of the Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival in August 2010, directed by Andrew Steggall and designed by Jess Curtis, followed by an industry showcase at the Soho Theatre.
A critical analysis of Vice by Professor Douglas M Lanier has just been published in The Oxford Handbook of Thomas Middleton
‘NIMBLE IN DAMNATION, QUICK IN TUNE’ : VICE AND THE REVENGER’S TRAGEDY
Supporting material on thomasmiddleton.org
‘a highly entertaining work of great subtlety and contemporary resonance ..extraordinary musical and lyrical skill..’
Douglas M Lanier, ‘Nimble in Damnation, Quick in Tune”‘, Oxford Handbook to Middleton, pub O.U.P. April 2012.
The Dance of Death, from Vice, has become an inspirational piece in it’s own right as a video on YouTube and is about to be featured in an animated short by Will Amber-Shaw.
For any enquiries about Vice please contact Rachel Daniels, Berlin Associates, 7 Tyers Gate, London SE1 3HX.