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The Changeling

University of Auckland Drama Studio, 29 June-7 July 2018
Pumphouse Theatre, 9-13 July 2018; Q Theatre, 18-28 July 2018
Uxbridge Theatre, 2-3 August 2018

Presented by AUSA Summer Shakespeare
Written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley; adapted by Michael Hurst
Directed by Michael Hurst

REVIEWS


 
 
                      
CAST  
CREATIVE
Beatrice
  Anthea Freya Hill  
Director
  Michael Hurst
Diaphanta
  Ruby Payne  
Producer
  Natalie Beran
Alsamero
  Edwin Beats  
Dramaturg
  Prof. Tom Bishop
De Flores
  Mel Odedra  
Assistant Director
  Fiona Armstrong

Tomazo

  Caleb Wells  
Set Designer
  John Verryt
Alonzo
  Travis Graham  
Costume Designer
  Sarah Aldridge
Jasperino
  Jonathan James  
Design
  Candice Hindriksen
Vermandero
  Shona Harris  
Lighting
  Fiona Armstrong and Jonathan James
     
Make Up
  Dianne Ensor and
     
  The Makeup School Team

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

Look at the content of any television provider today, Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and you will see a plethora of material relating to the dark side of human nature - madness, violence, horror, lust and betrayal.  The same is true of the Jacobean dramatists.  The theatres needed content that would grip the public, and the writers provided it.  After Elizabeth I, the world seemed to be in turmoil.  There was an obsession with death, sex and violence, corruption was rife and god was far away.  Some things never change.

The Changeling is a remarkably intense play.  I have stripped out the somewhat extravagant sub-plot so to focus on the central story of Beatrice, who, thinking she can control the jack-in-the-box of sin that she deliberately lets loose in her world, moves inexorably from being a woman in her rightful place to being an outcast, a sinner, a foul adulteress and a murderer.  She is the changeling, but she is not a victim.  She is a strong female character who makes some fatally bad decisions that bring about her destruction.  Though her outcome is bleak, she absolutely owns it.

Though it has feet in the 17th century, this play has a modernity about it that makes it a fascinating study of what happens when one embarks upon a road to perdition.  As Beatrice says when she realises how things are going to go down:  "Vengeance begins; murder, I see, is followed by more sins."

I hope you are thrilled and disturbed by our presentation of The Changeling.

Michael Hurst


Michael and Anthea Freya Hill talking about The Changeling on The Cafe, 3 July 2018.



Mel Odedra, Edwin Beats, Caleb Wells, Travis Graham, Shona Harris, Michael Hurst, Anthea Freya Hill, Jonathan James, Ruby Payne


REHEARSAL








Mel Odedra, Anthea Freya Hill


Shona Harris, Anthea Freya Hill



Ruby Payne, Anthea Freya Hill


Edwin Beats, Jonathan James



Edwin Beats, Anthea Freya Hill


Edwin Beats, Anthea Freya Hill




The Changeling Reviews

NZ Herald:  "The murky depths of Jacobean drama are chillingly illuminated in Michael Hurst's exhilarating production of a renowned, but seldom staged, 17th-century play ... Adultery, betrayal, debauchery and murder are packed into a taut 80 minutes as the sharply edited text focuses with forensic clarity on the turbulent emotions driving an inexorable descent into psychotic mayhem.  Hurst's superb stagecraft creates an almost claustrophobic sense of intimacy as the blood-curdling action swirls around cabaret-style seating crammed within a small, black-walled studio theatre.

Craccum:  "The acting was powerful, the show was smooth and cohesive, and the show looked classy as heck.  Definitely worth a watch"