Emily Ota, Ian Harkins, Brittany Chandler, Levi Morger, Rafe Terrizzi, Samantha Blinn & Ariana Karp conclude our discussion of the play in this episode, as we tackle questions about: 

• Most productions make massive cuts to this last act, why?
• The ultimate sin of despair in Elizabethan and Jacobean times
• The Duchess is the only character who is saved in the play
• Has the cultural attitude towards murder changed since the Elizabethan times with the rise of forensics?
• Who is the play really about?
• What is the biggest difference between Shakespeare and Webster?
• How the Julia wooing Bosola scene mirrors the Duchess wooing Antonio scene from the beginning?
• Staging questions about the multiple deaths in act 5 and the use of darkness.
• The importance of the soundscape in this play in our conception of the production

Production image from Cheek by Jowl's famous production. Julia & the Cardinal.