The Changeling by Middleton and Rowley Directed by Sarah Drinkwater
May 2005
KDC Theatre at The Courtyard Theatre

Review by Michael Hubbard, musicOMH.com

The Changeling is, in my mind, one of the finest examples of Jacobean tragedy as its essence is made up of sex, revenge and a fair amount of bloodshed. Its main weakness as a text for a modern audience, is the inclusion of the madhouse scenes which followed the fashion at the time it was written but really don't contribute a great deal to the main plot. As such, Sarah Drinkwater's production could probably have given them a bit of a trim and not really lost anything but a few minutes off the running time. That said, Eleanor Barr's energetic gender-swapped role of Lollio helped keep the action moving. I felt a trick was missed when the assembled company of fools and madmen were called in to rehearse their performance for the grand wedding. This production was ostensibly set in the 1950's but no real period touches were injected by the director. So why choose to have the assorted loons make a fairly loose attempt at morris dancing when you could have gone for a spot of jive or rock and roll?

The main plot, centring round the headstrong Beatrice-Joanna and her despised servant De Flores, was far more engaging. Edward Culver as De Flores showed a punctilious nature from the start. As he sat cleaning his shoes and picking fluff from his garments one could begin to imagine why Beatrice hates him. As he descends into murder and rape, his oppressed animalism not only finds release but overwhelms him. Kate Gribble as Beatrice presented a girlish creature who didn't really seem to absorb the horrors going on around her. I would have liked to have seen more of the passionate nature of her character from the very beginning. Her opening scene with Alsemero looked a little too chaste. With the hint at 50's costumes I felt a bit like I was watching Sandy from Grease! The tension that drives Beatrice to have her suitor killed arises from her loins and her lust for another man, yet in this show it seemed that she was merely tossing one toy aside to be replaced with another. There was an opportunity too to give Beatrice some redeeming features - to show genuine revulsion when De Flores has carried out her bidding and brings her the evidence of it - but instead she seemed almost entertained by the presentation of a severed finger. Whilst Kate Gribble handled the text admirably I felt she could have presented a more complex characterisation with more vocal variety - this is a woman after all, who presents herself differently to everyone in her world and becomes more duplicitous as the play goes on. I think that combining her childlike manipulation of her father with a more womanly longing for Alsemero would have made the character more interesting. More awareness of her situation could also have been explored - when she enters at the beginning of the second half having been "undone endlessly" by De Flores, she says it with a smile and then moments later claims to be distressed and frightened about what will happen when she has to take to her bridal bed. Roddy McKerrell as the unfortunate husband Alsemero probably garnered the most sympathy from the audience. When he discovers how he has been betrayed his anger and distress was believable.

Classical texts can often present casting difficulties in terms of a shortage of parts for women, but by turning Tomazo de Piraquo into Tomazina, Sarah Drinkwater provided not only another female role, but also an interesting suggestion of another reconciliation at the end. A relationship between Tomazina (Lily Ann Green) and Vermandero (Matthew Owen) seemed to be emerging in a manner which obviously isn't present in the original. The cast should be applauded for their handling of the text and as a supporting role, special mention goes to Anna Myers as Diaphanta who showed a warmth and easy charm which sadly leads to her character's violent death.

The absence of any moveable scenery was a blessing and helped keep the action flowing. Such hindrances aren't really necessary in a space like the Courtyard, and I felt another nice touch was the projection of video to depict the wedding. In terms of costuming, the women's garments were more believably 1950's than the men's - especially Kate Gribble who had an enviable array of gorgeous frocks! Lighting and sound were minimal and unobtrusive leaving the onus on the acting, which was solid.

Review by Michael Hubbard, musicOMH.com
Middleton and Rowley's Jacobean tragedy, written in 1622, is, amongst much else, a psychological study of the disfigured De Flores, servant to the beautiful Beatrice, a lady he adores. She finds her fiance, mummy's boy Alonzo de Piraquo, something of a nuisance - she'd much rather be enjoying the attentions of the heroic Alsemero. Beatrice's beauty is proven to be skin-deep only, when she devises a plot for De Flores to rid her of Piraquo, in so doing sealing his own doom and leaving her free from unwanted affections. But when De Flores does the deed, Beatrice's control of events rapidly slips from her grasp. In amongst all this is a subplot about mad people in an asylum. Sarah Drinkwater's production at the Courtyard presents us with a black stage and boys strutting about in leather jackets. At first, only the lines give lie to the notion that we're about to see a production of Grease. The Changeling was originally set in sunny, sultry southern Spain, but this production suggests a rehearsal room in some anonymous English town. Of the actors, Roddy McFerrell, an Anglo-Scottish take on the mannerisms of Ethan Hawke, dominates the stage as Alsemero. His burning looks of passion at Kate Gribble's Beatrice make him a dashing romantic lead. But Edward Culver's De Flores, very far from disfigured, oozes delicious wickedry as the ugly souls of he and Beatrice recognise each other as kin. De Flores can be played as a straightforward villain, but Culver's quietly intense performance leaves the audience rooting for the classic anti-hero bucking the system, a baddie for sure but one whose actions cause wry smiles. While all else around him is dramatic flourish and hollering projection, Culver is quiet, his words frightening and attention-grabbing. Eleanor Barr, as Alibius's whip-happy servant Lollio in the asylum subplot, is superb comic relief as she does her best to restrain the howling hordes that are her madhouse charges, and Alexander Gordon Wood is a suitably authoritative figure as Alibius. Chris Waiting as Piraquo has great fun as a Boris Johnson double, a ghost and a madman. Other cast members, perhaps due to first-night nerves, muddled up their words, but bad diction was the exception, rather than the rule, here. The cast also milk the play's bawdy qualities for all they're worth - The Changeling not only gives Shakespeare a run for his money in this department but has scenes that would happily fit into a Carry On film. Drinkwater is to be commended for getting the mood balance between the tragic and the comedic just about right - and once we get over the non-set and peculiar costumes, the play holds its own. Pity the cast though - apart from company regulars, there was scarcely a murmur to heard from the audience, even in the funnier moments. Did they not get the jokes? Were they asleep? The Changeling is ultimately a cautionary tale, depicting how quickly events can spin from a manipulator's grasp when passion dictates that sins be committed. But it also suggests that, in the end, "well bred men" will always triumph over their servile brothers who dare to covet a higher station, and defines women as mere possessions. For all the bawdy comedy, it's a distressing viewpoint in the 21st century, especially when we want the baddies to win.
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