The Alchemist
At Jericho Arts Centre until July 28
Tickets: 604-224-8007
Its ambitiouseven nobletackling the classics, and this is just what Ensemble Theatre Co-operative is committed to doing. But wrestling with Ben Jonsons The Alchemist is risky despite the fact that the underlying messageA fool and his money are easily partedis as true today as it was back in 1610 when the Kings Men opened The Alchemist at Londons Globe Theatre. (The roofless theatre held an audience of 2,000, ranging from the gentry in fancy boxes to the rabble who stood in a kind of mosh pit in front of the stage. There was no artificial lighting so performances were held in the afternoon; the stage featured a little hut under which the actors could huddle during a shower, but performances were cancelled in a real downpour, which, being London, were not infrequent.)
The Alchemist was a big success in Elizabethan London, but I doubt that this production will be wildly popular. It wont be for lack of trying or talent. Tariq Leslie, who trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA), directs a cast of 13 through Jonsons text, which is so laden with Classical and 17th century contemporary references that unless youre familiar with the script, its heavy going in spite of all the onstage hijinx. A plot synopsis in the program would have been invaluable.
After I saw the play I turned to the Norton Critical Edition of Ben Jonsons Plays and Masques to figure out who was who and what was what but found the heavily footnoted read slow going. It seemed that every other line required going to the bottom of the page. Act II, for example, opens with Mammon (Matthew Bissett in this Ensemble production) saying, Come on, sir. Now, you set your foot on shore/In Novo Orbe; heres the rich Peru/And there within, sir, are the golden mines/Great Solomons Ophir! The reference is to the New World and the legends of El Dorado, but whos to know?
What the play lacksat least for contemporary audiencesin accessibility, it makes up for in a lot of farcical onstage business. Lovewit (Glenn Beck), a gentleman, has fled his London home for fear of catching the plague. Jeremy, his servant (Leslie), has been left to look after the house (and to catch the plague if hes unlucky.) Taking his masters absence as an opportunity, Jeremy changes his name to Captain Face and seeks out a couple of con artistsSubtle (Trevor Devall) and Dol Common (Joey Bothwell), a whoreto join him in bilking some gullible would-be-rich fellows. First theres Dapper, a lawyer (William Hopkins) who wants Subtle, posing as an alchemist, astrologer and god knows what all, to provide him with a familiar (in this case not an owl or a cat but a spirit) to help him win at gambling. After Dapper comes Drugger (Aaron Turner), Sir Epicure Mammon, Ananais (Rebecca Walters), Tribulation Wholesome (James Gill), Kastril (Joshua Simpson) with Dame Pliant (Farrah Avira), his widowed sister. All come looking for get-rich-quick schemes that keep Face, Subtle and Dol Common rushing in and out of doors in a manner that out-farces all the French farces put together.
I never did figure out why Kastril wanted lessons in quarreling since the character already seemed quarrelsome. Nor do I know why Dame Pliant (bored, chewing gum and reading a trashy magazine) would arouse lust in Subtle, Face and, eventually, Lovewit.
This Alchemist is an ambitious undertakingwith strong performances from Leslie, Devall and Bothwellbut if The Alchemist is representative of the classics Leslie hopes to produce, I fear the niche is very small. To give it its due, the gist is easy to get but is the play worth the considerable effort that has gone into this production?
