The Changeling at BFI Southbank

Playwright Michael Hastings’ adaptation of Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s 1622 play, with Elizabeth McGovern, Bob Hoskins and Hugh Grant. Playwright Michael Hastings adapted Thomas Middleton and William Rowley’s 1622 play and ruthlessly excised the asylum sub-plot. The cuts tighten the focus on the transgressive affair between the beautiful aristocrat Beatrice-Joanna and the facially disfigured arriviste De Flores. A poised performance from Elizabeth McGovern and a brave and daring embrace of his role by Bob Hoskins are key reasons to see what is, after 20 years, television’s most recent presentation of a non-Shakespearean early modern drama. Plus a 20-minute extract from Play of the Month: The Changeling (BBC 1974): As directed by Anthony Page, Helen Mirren and Stanley Baker offer a fascinating contrast to McGovern and Hoskins in their differing approaches to acting Jacobean drama.