The Changeling NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (88)
See it if enjoy and more importantly can follow Jacobean (Shakespearean) language. Plot has great twists showing light and dark side of human desire.
Don't see it if you can't follow the language. Plot has so many details that you will get lost. Acting is uneven. Feliciano is fantastic! A nice production.
See it if You're a fan of Shakespearean style plays that use Jacobean language
Don't see it if You have a hard time understanding Jacobean language. The story is hard to follow and was not my cup of tea.
See it if you like long winding plot heavy Jacobean dramas, where the potential for comedy isn't fully realized. You like fake blood and melodrama.
Don't see it if you can't sit still, you like naturalistic acting, or if you don't have the patience for anything other than modern English.
See it if you enjoy Shakespeare and his contemporaries
Don't see it if you do not know the story (or learn it before you see the show) - confusing and lack of clear direction made it more difficult to follow.
See it if you're a fan of Jacobean English, you want to see something completely different and ambitious
Don't see it if you aren't a fan of Jacobean English, have a hard time following complicated, intense, odd storylines
See it if You pay extra attention and conentrate because it is hard to follow. It has some good moments and the actors are good but lost my interest
Don't see it if You don't enjoy difficult changeling plays.
See it if you love Thomas Middleton and can't get enough Jacobean drama
Don't see it if you can't follow very intense and dense language
See it if you enjoy classical theatre and are intrigued (and open-minded) enough to see a rarely-done piece. A bold effort but ultimately labored.
Don't see it if you're expecting Shakespeare. And yet Manoel Feliciano's nuanced, effortless performance revived the evening and made it all worth our time.
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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