In 2013, Penelope Wilton, in one of the series of masterclasses she regularly conducts in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, conducted a rehearsal of Act 2 Scene 1 of Thomas Middleton’s Women Beware Women.
In 2006 she had played the role of Livia in Middleton’s great tragedy, to critical acclaim, for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the Swan Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon.
She particularly relishes Middleton’s style of writing, values the distinctive quality of the experiences his plays offer, and wished to explore the demands and challenges he poses to his performers with a group of York students.
The performers are: Eliza Shea (Livia), Nick Armfield (Hippolito), Anna Thirkettle (Isabella).