Volpone (Red Bull) @ YouTube
June 15, 2021
The Red Bull’s Zoom-based production of Volpone reprised a celebrated 2012 production (both directed by Jesse Berger) in a fast and funny version that entertainingly capitalised on the restrictions of performing in isolation. Volpone is a play that always seems to feel timely even if, as here, it leans into the period setting, and the play’s …
Bartholomew Abominations (Graeae/Naked Productions) @ BBC Radio 4
November 7, 2020
What would happen if Zeal-of-the-Land Busy in Bartholomew Fair had actual power? In Paul Sirett’s radio play, performed by Graeae in conjunction with Naked Productions, Busy is reimagined as Sir Michael Best (Garry Robson), Home Secretary and leading member of the ruling Puritan Party in 2032. In the wake of COVID-19, the Puritans came to power, and …
Bartholomew Fair (Shakespeare’s Globe) @ The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
August 26, 2019
Please note – this review is of a preview performance. The sprawling Bartholomew Fair is an enormous play, a cast of seemingly thousands jostling shoulders in one of London’s most notorious fairs. Hosting it in the relatively bijou Sam Wanamaker was a bold choice, but Blanche McIntyre (with designer Ti Green) transformed it to maximise …
The Alchemist (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre
July 10, 2016
The RSC’s contribution to the 400th anniversary of Ben Jonson’s 1616 Folio is a Swan production of The Alchemist, occupying the slot that Volpone took last summer. The RSC invested a large, game cast, one of the biggest bands I’ve seen in the Swan for some time, and a production budget that stretched to a …
The Devil is an Ass (Mercurius) @ The Rose Playhouse, Bankside
November 29, 2015
Jenny Easton’s production of The Devil is an Ass for Mercurius revived one of Jonson’s finest city comedies in a suitably evocative location. Although most of the action took place on the viewing platform in the Rose Playhouse, the play opened with the sight of Lewis Chandler’s Pug in the far distance, pinned against a …
Volpone (RSC) @ The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
July 26, 2015
If Trevor Nunn’s superlative production of Volpone established just one thing, it is that Jonson’s finest play (cue debate) demands a tour de force performance from its lead. In Henry Goodman, Nunn found the perfect shapeshifter. Goodman, a stage stalwart without the celebrity baggage that fixes the persona of some other leading actors, had the …
The Alchemist (Let Them Call it Mischief) @ The White Bear, London
April 12, 2012
Writing about web page http://www.ideastap.com/Groups/Group/feace54c-ca91-4fc4-97c7-9e7100bdcbdf#Overview As previously noted, despite the fact I teach the specialist Jonson module at Nottingham, I’ve never yet seen any of his plays in performance. Happily, the ongoing mission of London’s White Bear Theatre pub to promote the wider early modern canon couldn’t avoid Jonson for too long, and last night …
The Alchemist at the White Bear Theatre Pub
March 21, 2012
Having been teaching Jonson this semester, but never actually having seen a production of one of his plays live, I’m excited to see that a new company, Let Them Call it Mischief, are opening a new production of The Alchemist next week at the White Bear Theatre Pub. I’ll be there.
New Globe season – and some more Jonson
November 8, 2010
Writing about web page http://shakespeares-globe.org/press/ Cheers to Duncan, as ever, for the tip: Shakespeare’s Globe has announced its new season, and it’s a fascinating one: All’s Well, Much Ado and – of special interest to me – Faustus, as well as touring productions of Hamlet and As You Like It. Also, the White Bear Theatre …
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