The Changeling - The Revels Plays Author:Thomas Middleton, William Rowley, N. W. Bawcutt (editor) A changeling is a fickle person, a waverer, a person posing as another person, or an idiot. The Changeling portrays them all. The play interchanges not only characters, but authors, too. Written in 1622 by William Rowley and Thomas Middleton, it is one of the most successful collaborations in the history of the theater.