The Changeling by Thomas Middleton & William Rowley, RSC Swan Theatre, 29 October 1992

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

This was the first of two plays Janie and I went to see on our first long weekend away together in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

I had seen The Changeling before, at the RNT in 1988, thought highly of it as a Jacobean revenge tragedy and thought Janie might like it. I didn’t yet realise that she was not so keen on classics/old plays. I’m not sure she realised it yet either.

My log reports:

Not quite to Janie’s taste – I rather liked it.

It was a superb production. Looking through the cast and creatives list you can see why. Cheryl Campell as Beatrice-Joanna, Malcolm Storry as De Flores, Michael Attenborough directing. Also a stellar list of youngsters who would break through in their own right later; Sophie Okeonedo, Barnaby Kay, Dominic Cooke (assisting Attenborough). Even Tracy-Ann Oberman (prior to her NewsRevue & SportsRevue days) puts in an appearance as an inmate of the asylum.

The Swan is an ideal venue for this type of play, much better than the Lyttleton. Very high production quality both times though – hard for me to rank one production above the other.

There’s a picture from The Swan production in a Guardian Gallery – click here and scroll down – but no on-line reviews of course.

Below is Michael Coveney’s Observer review:

Changeling, Antony & Cleopatra, Michael Coveney

Changeling, Antony & Cleopatra, Michael Coveney Sun, Nov 8, 1992 – 57 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:

Changeling, Antony & Cleopatra Michael Billington

Singer by Peter Flannery, The Pit, 9 June 1990

I saw this one with Bobbie and I recall we both found it very powerful, although a bit long for its relatively slight story.

What fine acting. Antony Sher & Malcolm Storrey in particular, but a fine supporting cast and Terry Hands directing.

The Theatricalia entry for this one can be found here.

Nicholas de Jongh gave it a good but not ecstatic review in The Guardian:

de Jongh on Singerde Jongh on Singer Sat, Mar 31, 1990 – 21 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com