Plays: The Alchemist

Friday night, I went to see The Alchemist, produced by The Baron's Men at The Curtain Theatre.  If you don't know, The Baron's Men are a local theatre group who work exclusively with classical theatre.  They produce a lot of Shakespeare's plays.  A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of working with them on A Midsummer Night's Dream, so I know from experience that they know the history of the plays they do, and work hard to create an authentic Elizabethan experience for the audience.  They even hand-make period costumes.  And they always perform at The Curtain Theatre, a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre built for them by Richard Garriott on his beautiful lake side property.

This production was no exception, from the costumed volunteers in front of the theatre checking people in and inviting audience members to play various games before the show began.  I tried all four of them and, even though I didn't win any of them, had a good time doing it.

The Alchemist, written by Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare, is a bawdy comedy which takes place at the time of the Black Death.  As the Plague sweeps across England, three clever survivors, Subtle (Todd Kassens), Dol Common (Bridget Farias) and Face (Heath Thompson) scheme against a parade of characters in hopes of securing their fortunes for themselves.  Among them are a gambler, a tobacconist, a wealthy nobleman, a widow and her brother, and a pair of Anabaptists.

The script itself is imperfect, but in the hands of director Casey Weed and his talented cast, which also included Ben McLemore, Eva MeQuade, Sarah Lee, Harry Conner, Chris Casey, Jimmie Bragdon, Joshua Moretto, Michael O'Keefe, and a crew of dancers, townsfolk, and musicians, that wasn't a big negative for me.  It is also about three hours long, and, at times, it feels like it.  Again, though, the cast saves it.  The three leads in particular did a great job with their roles.  Thompson's comedic timing was spot on, and the three of them had great onstage chemistry together.  And, impressively, they managed to keep their energy high for the entire show.  That goes for the whole cast too: the physical comedy, which everyone in the cast had to do at one point or another, was well done and a lot of fun to watch.  It was clear that the actors were having fun performing it, which always makes a show more fun for me as an audience member.  They also included an audience-interaction element; in some places actors would directly address audience members, and the audience could respond, if they so chose.  It was fun to join in the big group audience reaction, such as booing or cheering on a particular character, melodrama-style.  Those moments helped keep the audience engaged through the duration of the play.

My only real criticism is that, at times, I found the dancers and townsfolk a bit distracting.  But, overall, a job well done.  Congratulations, Baron's Men, for creating this fun, and funny, experience.