'Webster's revenge tragedy was reconfigured into a 1950s world full of gutter press sensationalism and mafia studs. Vittoria was a Marilyn Monroe-esque heroine, modelling glamorous frocks in a bleak stage world where a statue of the Madonna sat incongruously amongst the predominating trash. [...] Sex was much to the fore [...]

The production seemed to avoid direct confrontation with Webster's radicalism but it achieved some notable effects. The use of a secret cine film to relay to Brachiano the details of the murders of Isabella and Camillo was effective, although verging on the comic, and it made Julio an unexpected star.

Frank's attempt to re-read a Renaissance scandal play in a modern context risked emphasising the corny and comical aspects of sex and violence and achieved success mainly on the level of bloody, Mafia-film style entertainment.'

Mika Sato, RORD 40 (2000), 103-4