Sara Topham and Christian Coulson

 

                                                          by Deirdre Donovan

 

Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s The Changeling is one wild and wooly play.  Part tragedy, part comedy, part suspense-thriller, it’s altogether a Jacobean morality play that will make you gasp with horror—and even occasionally giggle.

 

Jesse Berger, the intrepid artistic director of the Red Bull Theater company, boldly tackles this early 17^th-century work, now in a brief run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.  And you got to hand it to Berger for diving into this theater piece that splashes gallons of blood and uncovers one dark secret after another. 

 

The story?  The program notes neatly sum it up as a re-imagining of the Beauty and the Beast fable, with the spoiled character Beatrice as Beauty and the deformed servant De Flores, the Beast.  Set in Spain, the fickle Beatrice is on the brink of marrying the lord Alonzo when she suddenly falls head over heels for the nobleman Alsemero.  Beatrice decides that the only way she can break her engagement is by persuading her father’s pock-marked servant De Flores, who is infatuated with her, to murder her fiancé.  De Flores agrees to Beatrice’s plan and kills Alonzo.  Beatrice, now free of her would-be husband, begins a dark journey that draws her into a sexual relationship with De Flores, who once repulsed her.  To complicate matters even further, there’s a sub-plot that parallels the main plot and introduces a “changeling” character named Antonio, who is mad.  But, in this dark tragedy, many characters besides Antonio will be viewed as changelings as the plot unspools and transformations occur.

 

While Middleton and Rowley’s double-plot (the tragic main plot is generally attributed to Middleton, and the comic subplot to Rowley) is a deft weaving of tragedy and comedy,  the play’s action can get terribly frenetic at times.  The main problem is that the sub-plot is so populated with madmen (with some characters feigning madness) and fools that it becomes difficult to sift the sane folk from the crazies.  And vice versa.  But perhaps the best way to appreciate this play is not to clinically dissect it but simply savor its hairpin twists and turns—and go with its Jacobean flow.

 

The acting is up and down.  But, happily, Sara Topham and Manoel Felciano, playing opposite each other as Beatrice and De Flores, are well-cast.  Topham has the range to perform the psychologically complex Beatrice, who starts out as an innocent virgin and ironically ends up as De Flores’ whore.  Felciano inhabits the sociopath De Flores with a burning ferocity.  His De Flores will stop at nothing to satisfy his ego or sexual desires.

 

 Sara Topham, Michelle Beck, Philippe Bowgen, Bill Army, Kimiye Corwin, Sam Tsoutsouvas,

 John Skelley, and Paul Niebanck                    Photos by Carol Rosegg

 

 Less successful is Christian Coulson, as Beatrice’s fiancé Alsemero.  Coulson fails to fully realize his part or project any real passion for his would-be wife.  A shout out to Sam Tsoutsouvas, who turns in a good performance in the supporting role of Beatrice’s father Vermandero.  The rest of the cast are competent, with no real standouts.

 

 

No complaints with the creative team.  Marion Williams’ elegant and tasteful set, combined with Peter West’s shadowy lighting, create a noir-ish ambiance and effectively accent the action throughout.  Beth Goldenberg’s period costumes are apropos, aptly reflecting each character’s social status and position.  Tracy Bersley’s choreography is executed well, especially at the opener when the entire cast files in and silently move about the stage in an intricate and stylized pattern.  And, last but not least, J. David Brimmer’s fight direction is spot-on for this blood-thirsty play where characters impulsively face off and get killed, left and right.

 

While Berger’s Changeling doesn’t have the theatrical clout of his last season’s staging of Tis Pity She’s a Whore or his 2008 staging of Women Beware Women, it would be wrong to say that he missed the mark with Middleton and Rowley’s play.  Berger takes the dark love story of Beatrice and De Flores, warts and all, and casts it in a fresh, if unsettling, new light here.

 

And, say what you will, when it comes to staging Jacobean plays, the Red Bull company has no rival in New York.   And as long as Berger, who is the Artistic Director, keeps staging these old masterpieces, you can bet folks will be beating a path to the box office for tickets.

 

Through January 24^rd.

At the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street, Manhattan.

For more information and tickets, visit www.redbulltheater.com

Running Time:  2 hours; 15 minutes with one intermission.