Thomas Middleton seems to suddenly be in vogue at the moment - Women Beware Women is in Stratford and The Changeling is shortly to hit the Barbican. Unfortunately, Gavin McAlinden’s production of his 1606 tragedy could prove to be the bad apple in the basket.
The revenger of the title is Vindice, a young man set on getting justice for his fiancee’s murder by a philandering duke, who gets drawn into the merciless, double-crossing world of pretenders to the throne.
The twists and turns of the bloody tale are hard to follow in Meredith Oakes’ speedy version, which isn’t helped by direction which frequently leaves actors with their backs to the audience, obscuring other characters and uses far too subtle costume changes to indicate disguises.
A cast of 20 feels just too big for such a limited space - getting them all on stage at the end takes too long to make more than one bow possible - while much of the shouting and screaming is at a level suited to a venue twice its size.
Kris Marshall, of My Family and Love Actually fame, adds some glamour to proceedings and seems to grow in confidence as the production progresses. He is matched by particularly strong performances from Sheila Ruskin and Linda Marlowe, as the women caught up in the corruption and rot of the court in different ways.
But there is an uncertainty at the heart of this production over what note it is trying to hit, leaving the play’s horrific climax disappointingly hollow.
At least with the mini Middleton revival going on, there will be other chances to rediscover this Jacobean giant.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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