The Changeling NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (88)
See it if you're a fan of Jacobean plays. Despite how long ago it was written, the language and plot are still very accessible.
Don't see it if you don't like violence.
See it if you enjoy discovering classic plays that are seldom revived, appreciate Jacobean era plays filled with melodrama and blood-letting
Don't see it if plays several hundred years old don't interest you, you don't like seeing blood on stage, you're not a fan of Shakespearean era drama
See it if You love classic theatre and want to see a seldom-staged work.
Don't see it if You can't stand classic theatre by any means.
See it if You like Jacobean language; Shakespeare, Marlowe, etc... If you like tragedy mixed with old old style humor.
Don't see it if You can't understand old flowery language. If you're looking for something modern.
See it if You enjoy verse plays. You want to discover a rarely performed classic play. You don't mind stage violence. You want great acting.
Don't see it if You don't like verse plays. You want to see a more well-known classic play. You don't like stage violence.
See it if you are fascinated by 1600s theater.This is a dark and bloody piece, with a strong female at the center. Wonderful actors, well directed.
Don't see it if odd subplots bother you. This has a jarring one in Bedlam. It should've been greatly cut (or fully excised). Still interesting historically.
See it if You want to see something Elizabethan that ISN'T Shakespeare. And if you want to see some strong performances and great staging.
Don't see it if You don't like Elizabethan language and graphic violence.
See it if you like Jacobean drama!
Don't see it if you don't want to see blood!
Critic Reviews (22)
"Sensation slides into silliness in 'The Changeling'...The convoluted story grows more lurid and strained as the play hurtles toward its predictably bloody conclusion, but with a fine cast bringing sufficient heat to the panting plotlines, the Red Bull Theater and its artistic director, Jesse Berger, once again win admiration for presenting a rarely seen drama from the Jacobean era with highly caffeinated verve."
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"The play takes some very strange turns indeed and Berger directs it with intelligent sincerity...Despite committed zaniness from the cast the humor of these scenes is hard to render, and the back-and-forth between plots gets tiring. The elegance and clarity of this 'Changeling' are laudable, but a stronger sense of the grotesque might make it more attractive to verse-averse audiences."
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"Jesse Berger’s inconsistent staging for Red Bull Theater revival leads to its own varied responses. The main storyline about covetous Beatrice-Joanna and her sicko sexual and lethal alliance with her dad’s disfigured servant De Flores works okay. But a subplot about men in disguise to have sex with a doctor’s wife clunks. So much unevenness is enough to make you mope."
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"'The Changeling' is not as strong as other recent Red Bull productions. The cast, though capable and hardworking, isn’t quite able to bring credibility to the play. Even so, Berger’s production has a rough vitality, not to mention plenty of heightened language, blood and cleavage."
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"Red Bull's production tries to embrace the tonal inconsistencies. It hits the right notes of bleak humor and bloodlust, though it has problems connecting two wildly different story lines...Separately, the two narratives are very nicely performed...Berger has a hard time making them gel as one, and throughout the production, it feels as if we're watching two separate works being performed alternately."
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"'The Changeling' is a prime example of the genre. At its best, Jesse Berger's production is a glittering black comedy, unleashing alternative waves of shock and laughter, but not everyone is up to the task at hand, especially given some of the curveballs thrown their way by the authors...If you have any interest in the Jacobeans, 'The Changeling' is a must, if only because it might not come around for another couple of decades."
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"The version of the script used here contributes to this feeling of leanness, as does Berger's overall thematic approach, which, per his usual, sometimes sheds more light on the shadowy sections than is perhaps ideal...Berger and his company leave us a bit adrift and that failure to overcome the play's inherent challenges mean that the evening as a whole doesn't satisfy."
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"While Jesse Berger’s revival is vigorous and straightforward, it is also rather bland…The production makes several definite choices which are problematic to the overall effectiveness of this outrageous play. Visually, the production is devoid of color…Unfortunately, while director Jesse Berger has chosen to err on the side of caution with a subdued and restrained production, something more outrageous might have been more memorable."
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