Volpone - Jack Studio Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
SCENA Mundi Theatre Company is presenting Volpone, or The Fox by Ben Jonson at the Jack Studio Theatre – from Tuesday, September 29 to Saturday, October 17, 2015.
Volpone is a con extraordinaire, a cheat, a deceiver, a consummate actor, a wiry old fox and yet … ultimately, the biggest gull of all!
Volpone is a rich and idle Venetian with one passion: his gold, two talents: deception and acting, and one favourite amusement: exposing the hypocrisy and greed of his fellowmen.
With the indefatigable help of his servant Mosca, he pretends to be at death’s door in order to cozen the greedy parasites who gather around his deathbed in the hope of inheriting his fortune. But the scavengers should beware the wily old fox… who in turn should beware of Mosca the Fly!
Ben Jonson’s exuberant satire of human greed is a feast of language and a triumphant ode to the art of acting and the misguided lure of riches. Will your sympathies lie with the deceiver – or will they lie with the parasite? Watch treachery rewarded, before poetic justice engulfs both knaves and dupes.
A classically educated poet, playwright and critic, Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was a major literary figure of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras whose influence on English literature is still felt nowadays. He excelled in the satiric genre and Volpone is his masterwork.
Produced by Edward Fisher for Scena Mundi, Volpone, or The Fox is directed by Cecilia Dorland, founder and artistic director of Scena Mundi, and has lighting and sound design by Nathalie Gunzle. Casting has still to be announced.
Volpone is suitable for ages 14+.
Tickets: £14, £12 concessions – available from the box office on 0333 666 3366 (£1.50 fee for phone bookings only) or online at www.brockleyjack.co.uk/.
Time: 7.45pm.
Also at the Jack Studio Theatre: Corinna Duemler’s new adaptation of Georg Buchner’s Leonce and Lena (August 18 to August 29); 1938 – Hitler Takes Vienna, freely adapted from Joseph Roth’s The Emperor’s Tomb by Howard Colyer (September 1 to September 5); and Side By Side By Sondheim with Su Pollard (September 8 to September 26, 2015).