By John Ford. Directed by Brian Parkinson. An Ensemble Theatre Company production. At the Jericho Arts Centre on Monday, July 20. Continues until August 8

Ensemble Theatre Company’s ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore is a solid semiprofessional effort, but it’s not strong enough to justify giving up a summer night to descend into its world of incest and murder.

The Jacobean playwrights were a dark lot, and in John Ford’s script, the incestuous siblings Giovanni and Annabella come across as the relative innocents; at least they love one another and act on their true feelings. But the culture in which they exist is vicious and hypocritical. Soranzo, one of Annabella’s suitors, has seduced and discarded Hippolita, who plots his murder—as does Hippolita’s husband, who skulks around in disguise. The local cardinal is corrupt. The servants are spies and schemers. By the end of the evening, the body count is huge. And for bonus points, Ford throws in an off-stage eye-gouging.

’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, which has been controversial for almost four centuries, is a regarded as a classic, partly because it ambitiously examines the relationship between the individual and the state. Giovanni and Annabella’s taboo relationship feels more emblematic than emotionally recognizable, however, and pretty much all of the other characters are such scoundrels that there’s no reason to care when they start knocking one another off. In the first half of the evening, the construction of the plot’s machinery is laborious.

Fortunately, the actors who play the lovers in this production are skilled. Maxamillian Wallace (Giovanni) is one of those magically transparent performers. Although the text could give him more psychological detail to work with, there’s no doubting this Giovanni’s vulnerability and intensity. And Wallace handles Ford’s sometimes beautiful verse with ease. Annabella’s emotional range is also extreme and Anthea Morritt is fearless and true in her approach.

Under Brian Parkinson’s direction, there’s impressive work elsewhere, too: from Michael Shewchuck’s sleazy but passionate Soranzo, Tariq Leslie’s Machiavellian serving man, Vasquez, and Alexis Kellum-Creer’s wounded and dangerous Hippolita. Adam Beauchesne, who plays a foolish suitor named Bergetto, also deserves mention. Although most of the comic scenes in this production tank—the clowns do a lot of hearty laughing, but the audience rarely joins in—Beauchesne maintains the integrity of his performance, virtually on his own.

The failed comic performances come from Mark Manning, who plays Bergetto’s uncle, Donado, and Daniel Meron (Bergetto’s sidekick, Poggio). Manning’s delivery is predetermined, as opposed to responsive, and Meron’s is forced. Ryan Scramstad is artificial as a soldier named Grimaldi.

No doubt, it’s possible to get more from this script: more eroticism, more depth, more suspense. But ’Tis Pity is a difficult play, and this production only partly overcomes its challenges.