THE CHANGELING. To 1 December.
Nottingham/Tour.
THE CHANGELING
by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.
Nottingham Playhouse To 13 October.
Tue-Sat 7.45pm Mat 11 Oct 1.30pm.
Audio described 9, 10 Oct.
BSL Signed 12 Oct.
Captioned 10 Oct.
Runs 2hr 30min. One interval.
then tour to 1 December 2007.
TICKETS: 0115 9419419.
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk.
Review: Jen Mitchell 5 October 2007
Jacobean drama brought stunningly to life by English Touring Theatre.
Paul Wills’ set, grim and overpowering, at once both lunatic asylum and Vermandero’s castle, provides the perfect backdrop for this tale of obsession, lust and violence and the madness they lead to.
The play’s two plots are interwoven with dexterity; the comic sub-plot, set in the asylum, juxtaposes beautifully with the violence of the main plot where Beatrice-Joanna blindly pursues her own ends, oblivious to the destruction that lies ahead for her.
In Anna Koval’s performance Beatrice-Joanna is a woman prepared to go to any lengths to get what she wants, regardless of the damage she inflicts on others. She uses her sexuality every way possible – playing every role from the innocent virgin and dutiful daughter to cajoling vixen and demanding mistress.
And the men fall for it, mistaking her physical beauty for purity of heart. Her downfall lies in the deformed Deflores’ desire to take payment for his deeds by satiating his lust.
In Deflores Thomas Middleton shows a man determined to be with a woman with whom he is obsessed. Initially repulsed by him, Beatrice-Joanna develops a sexual attraction and the two find themselves in a web of deceit and desire.
Adrian Schiller is an excellent Deflores, changing change visibly from subservient retainer to strong and decisive master as his relationship with Beatrice-Joanna develops.
In the asylum, keeper Albius possessively keeps his much younger, sexier wife Isabella, under lock and key to ensure her fidelity with Lollio, his bawdy assistant, among the madmen and fools, plus two interlopers who feign madness to be nearer the object of their desires, Isabella. Director Stephen Unwin’s line is that, ‘If the main plot shows how untrammelled sexual desire can lead to murder and your own death, the subplot shows the more common experience: that it results in foolishness and humiliation’.
The action is pacy with scenes almost overlapping – a brief glimpse of Deflores taking his rewards, a walkthrough Bridal procession. One cannot let attention wander for a second.
The actions grips and pulls you along with it, particularly in the second half when events take on a momentum of their own.
Vermandero: Ken Bones.
Beatrice-Joanna: Anna Koval.
Tomazo de Piracquo: Daon Broni.
Alonso de Piracquo: Gabriel Fleary.
Alsemero: Gideon Turner.
Jasperino: Ian Mercer.
Alibius: Terrence Hardman.
Isabella: Marianne Oldham.
Lollio: David Cardy.
Pedro/Franciscus: Leon Williams.
Antonio: Geoffrey Lumb.
Deflores: Adrian Schiller.
Diaphanta: Samantha Lawson.
Director: Stephen Unwin.
Designer: Paul Wills.
Lighting: Ben Ormerod.
Sound: Mike Furness.
Composer: Olly Fox.
Costume: Mark Bouman.
2007-10-08 17:19:36