The Alchemist by Ben Jonson - a Bell Shakespeare and Queensland Theatre Company co-production

His Majesty’s Theatre presents a Bell Shakespeare and Queensland Theatre Company co-production THE ALCHEMIST BY BEN JONSON DIRECTED BY JOHN BELL From Bill to Ben! After treating Perth audiences to the Bard’s incomparable comedies and tragedies many times over the past 20 years, Bell Shakespeare now turns the spotlight on Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist -“one of the funniest plays in the English language.” (The Guardian, UK). While the cat’s away, the mice will play! Lovewit leaves the city and a menagerie of shady characters – a conman, a hooker and one very bored domestic helper – takes over his home, creating hoopla for their own amusement and gain. See Face, the servant, and his two friends, Subtle and Dol Common, juggle scams like plates on sticks! See them fend off suspicion with their wits brandished like swords! And witness, if you will, the alchemy of love and the world’s rightful order restored when the master returns to unravel the mayhem. The Alchemist is a brilliant comedy that demonstrates the vices and vagaries of human nature, told through the antics of a trio of scammers including a charlatan disguised as an alchemist. Urban, fast-paced and vibrant, Ben Jonson’s greatest comedy revels in the zest for life among the bottom-feeders. Directed by John Bell, and featuring Patrick Dickson as Subtle and Andrew Tighe as Face, this is schtick in the city at its hardcore and hilarious best. “Timing is everything and this production speeds like an arrow through two hours of non-stop mayhem. Bell draws great performances from his actors, and makes the text, full of Elizabethan jargon, accessible.” Sue Gough, Courier Mail, Feb 2009 “Written four centuries ago, The Alchemist, under John Bell's able directorial hand, is an accessible and at times hilarious comic piece.” Bree Hadley The Australian, March 2009 DIRECTOR JOHN BELL SET & COSTUME DESIGNER BRUCE MCKINVEN LIGHTING DESIGNER MATT SCOTT CAST SANDRO COLARELLI, PATRICK DICKSON, RUSSELL KIEFEL, PETER KOWITZ, BRYAN PROBETS, LIZ SKITCH, LUCAS STIBBARD, RICHARD SYDENHAM, GEORGINA SYMES, ANDREW TIGHE, DAVID WHITNEY AND SCOTT WITT When: Friday 15 May to Saturday 23 May - Ten Performances Only! Where: His Majesty’s Theatre, 825 Hay St, Perth Bookings: BOCS Ticketing 9484 1133 or www.bocsticketing.com.au or at any BOCS outlet.