In addition to the frame, I want to keep the subplot. I want to keep the detailed and profound parts of this comprehensive tragedy intact, side by side with horror-movie violence of popular entertainment projected upon the cube.
I quite like the idea of a subplot that acts as a foil for the chief narrative and creates a nuanced contrast without any resolution. In the case of The Spanish Tragedy, the chief narrative is broken up by a sub-story about Villuppo, who accuses a Portuguese nobleman named Alexandro of killing Balthazar, the Portuguese prince. The king of Portugal then sentences Alexandro to an expedited death, but news of Balthazar’s capture make it back in time to spare Alexandro’s life. The king then sentences Villuppo to death, and Villuppo confesses to acting out of envy and greed. The subplot’s effectual justice becomes a foil for the larger tragedy. Villuppo becomes a lens through which we can understand Lorenzo, and Alexandro can be likened to Horatio. The Portuguese king also becomes Heironimo’s opposite, a man who not only saw justice, but did not (at that moment in the play) lose his son. That is how I am going to have the actors double up on these parts, a quick costume change and change in movement and tone of voice will signify the difference to the audience, so I can include the subplot on a five actor tour.
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