The Changeling at The Lowry until 1st December

Fusing explicit sex and violence with tragedy and the grotesque, The Changeling is more than an average Jacobean play.

Often hailed as the greatest tragedy in English after those written by Shakespeare, this is an electrifying and immediate tale about the conflicting claims of familial duty and sexual desire.

The play tells the story of Beatrice-Joanna who wants to marry Alsemero, while her father has other plans.  Meanwhile, her servant, the hideously deformed De Flores, would do anything to have her. When she asks him to dispose of her unwanted bridegroom, De Flores obliges.  She tries to pay him in gold, but the obsessed servant has another reward in mind – the beautiful Beatrice Joanna herself. Initially repulsed, her desire is ignited and their torrid alliance propels them on a depraved journey of lust, lunacy and murder.

Stephen Unwin will direct Middleton and Rowley’s dark masterpiece of 1622 as part of his final season as Director at English Touring Theatre. Unwin is best known for his acclaimed productions of classic plays including King Lear with Timothy West (Old Vic), Hedda Gabler (Donmar), Hamlet with Alan Cumming (Donmar) and Ed Stoppard (West End).

The cast of The Changeling brings together a number of experienced stage actors including Ken Bones, David Cardy, Terrence Hardiman, Adrian Schiller, Ian Mercer, Daon Broni, Gabriel Fleary, Samantha Lawson, Geoffrey Lumb, Marianne Oldham, Gideon Turner, and newcomer Anna Koval as Beatrice-Joanna.