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The Changeling Written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley Directed by Jesse Berger Red Bull Theater at the Lucille Nortel Theatre, NYC December 26, 2015-January 24, 2016

Ushering in the New Year, Red Bull Theater brings us a tragic tale of sex in payment for murder. Jesse Berger sure-handedly directs Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's 1622 tragicomedy The Changeling, the main plot of which introduces the noble Beatrice-Joanna (Sara Topham) as she finds a "giddy turning" in herself from Alonzo de Piracqo (John Skelley), to whom her father, Vermandero (Sam Tsoutsouvas), intends her to be married, towards Alsemero (Christian Coulson). In order to "change [her] saint," she eventually enlists the aid of her father's servant De Flores (Manoel Feliciano), whom she professes to abhor and whose skin condition suggests a spatter of blood across his face, to remove the obstacle that is Alonzo.

The changeling of the title can refer to the inconstant Beatrice-Joanna herself,...

The Changeling, a 17th-century play by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, gets a very modern twist in our new film, made in collaboration with the Guardian and the Young Vic

Warning: film contains adult themes

A "bed trick" is a convention in Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre: a plot twist in which someone goes into a sexual liaison with someone else, but sneaks off after the lights have gone out, allowing someone different to sneak into their place. This is a very weird concept to us, perhaps a shocking one, but it's present in a lot of plays: Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, Middleton's The Revenger's Tragedy, and The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, which I directed at the Young Vic in London last year. When I was working on the play, it struck me as a bizarre and interesting idea, and that was one of the things that influenced...

Opened Feb. 14, 2003

LONDON -- "Revengers Tragedy" provides the perfect platform for the very individual talents of director Alex Cox. Working from an impressive adaptation by Frank Cottrell Boyce of Thomas Middleton's 1607 play, he concocts a gloriously over-the-top revenge comedy-drama that could attract a cult following.

Theatrical life will probably be limited, but Cox has a fan base, and his films are always worth a look.

The updated play is transposed to gangland Liverpool of 2011, a ravaged city replete with partly demolished buildings and wrecked cars that is run by a corrupt duke and his vicious sons. Christopher Eccleston plays Vindici, a nobleman who returns to the city to avenge the murder of his bride, killed by the lusty duke (Derek Jacobi, sporting pale makeup and bright-red lipstick).

Vindici plots and counterplots against the duke's sons and other enemies until bloodshed and mayhem bring about the end of the rule of the duke and his clan.

With outrageous costume design by Monica Aslanian and brash production design from Cecilia Montiel and Remi Vaughan-Richards, the film could have been an overblown mess. But Cox is an experienced pro. He keeps an impressive control of the production, allowing the performances to border on the extreme yet serve the high drama of the Jacobean tale. Eccleston is powerful as the conniving Vindici, while Jacobi is suitably outrageous as the nasty duke.

Perhaps best of all, though, is Eddie Izzard as the duke's scheming son Lussurioso. With delectable line delivery, he maintains a devious playfulness throughout the story.

The film is also littered with various Liverpool-based performers, including Margi Clarke as Hannah and Antony Booth (father-in-law to British Prime Minister Tony Blair) as Lord Antonio.

There is a great deal of individualistic energy to Cox's film, which best of all achieves that great feat of not fitting into any easy cinematic bracket. Mixing comedy-drama with horror-revenge, he has constructed a refreshingly odd and highly watchable film.

REVENGERS TRAGEDY

The Film Council and Northcroft Films present a Bard Entertainments production of an Exterminating Angel film

Credits:

Director: Alex Cox

Screenwriter: Frank Cottrell Boyce

Based on the play by: Thomas Middleton

Producers: Margaret Matheson, Tod Davies

Executive producers: Paul Trijbits, Carolyn Bennett

Director of photography: Len Gowing

Production designers: Cecilia Montiel, Remi Vaughan-Richards

Music: Chumbawamba

Costume designer: Monica Aslanian

Editor: Ray Fowlis

Cast:

Vindici: Christopher Eccleston

Lussurioso: Eddie Izzard

Duke: Derek Jacobi

Firework: Kevin Knapman

Duchess: Diana Quick

Imogen: Sophie Dahl

Gloriana: Jean Butler

Running time -- 109 minutes

No MPAA rating...