Jacobean master Thomas Middleton’s savagely funny Women Beware Women presents a haunting proposition: if Romeo and Juliet had lived and run away together, they probably would have started to hate each other. Newly eloped Leantio and Bianca arrive in Florence hoping to live happily ever after. They’ve been in love ever since he met her at her balcony window. Unfortunately, the cash-strapped Leantio, struck with jealousy and insecurity, puts his new bride under house arrest. His plan backfires, however, when the wealthy Duke catches sight of Bianca, and immediately sets his designs on stealing her away. Across town, an aging socialite seeks to marry off his daughter to a despicable young heir while she secretly harbors forbidden desire for another much closer to her. Men from all sides treat the young women as pawns, brokering them for their own power, wealth, and desire. But they fail to realize that they are all pieces in a much larger game of chess -- one being played by Middleton’s great villainess, the Lady Livia. As this wealthy widow sets her plans for the men in motion, the stories converge into perhaps the most shocking ending in all of Jacobean drama.

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