By Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
Director Priscilla Jackman
Beatrice, aka Joanna, falls in love with Alsemero, a nobleman who is passing through town. Her father, however, has arranged for her to marry Alonzo. Beatrice needs Alonzo out of the way, so she asks her father’s servant, De Flores, to murder him. In exchange, she offers De Flores cash, which he rejects. De Flores demands sex instead, and Beatrice eventually relents.
With Alonzo dead, Beatrice’s father agrees to her marriage to Alsemero, but Beatrice worries that Alsemero will find out she isn’t a virgin. She discovers that Alsemero carries a collection of potions, including a virginity tester. She gives the concoction to her servant, Diaphanta, who exhibits the ‘correct’ symptoms of virginity. Beatrice then arranges a ‘bed trick’, switching places with Diaphanta on the wedding night. Diaphanta spends a little too much time in bed with Alsemero and Beatrice decides she can no longer be trusted. With Beatrice’s blessing, De Flores sets fire to Diaphanta’s bedroom then shoots her dead. Beatrice decides she’s now in love with De Flores.
Alsemero sees Beatrice and De Flores talking in the garden and accuses Beatrice of cheating on him. Beatrice denies it, but admits to arranging the murder of Alonzo. Alsemero locks her in a closet just as De Flores enters. De Flores exposes the adultery and he gets locked in the closet too. Alsemero is about to reveal the whole story to Beatrice’s father and Alonzo’s brother, when screams are heard from inside the closet. De Flores has stabbed Beatrice then turned the knife on himself. The lovers stumble out and confess their transgressions as they die.
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