The Alchemist is pure gold

Some directors seem to turn almost everything to gold, and Nicholas Hytner is one of them.  Last Thursday, by coincidence the day of the National Trust's History Matters mass blog, I had one of the best theatre experiences I've had for ages. It was a truly historical moment -- a rare sensation of experiencing something created 400 years ago as if it was created yesterday.   This was Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, now playing on the National Theatre's Olivier stage, with Alex Jennings and Simon Russell Beale.

This isn't a play I know well, having seen it only twice.  The first time was a production at my grammar school in the 1960s, of which I can remember very little, and the second time was at the Barbican in the 1990s with the RSC.  The National's version is so good that I really won't be in a hurry to see anyone else perform it for quite a while.  I started reading the play before heading to the theatre, but gave up, finding Jonson's language opaque and difficult.  But on the stage all the obscurity just melted away.  Hytner stages the play in modern dress and his choice is triumphantly vindicated.  Mark Thompson's set and costumes are thought through in wonderful detail, especially for the minor parts.  I've seen Alex Jennings several times at the National. most recently playing George Bush in Stuff Happens, and before that as Lord Foppington in The Relapse and Walter Burns in His Girl Friday.   This time his role as Subtle, a conman, means he has to slip in and out of a series of parts -- a Californian new age guru with headband and granny glasses, a devout Scottish presbyterian in a grey tweed suit, and a religious messiah in a white kaftan.  Russell Beale as Face, the housekeeper, starts out as a phoney naval 'Captain' with blue blazer, cravat and ill-fitting toupee, changing into a begoggled lab assistant of dubious foreign origins.  Their companion in crime is Lesley Manville as Dol Common the prostitute, who metamorphoses from breezy slut to society whore.  It's a cold and callous play in many ways, lacking Shakespeare's redeeming warmth, but it reminds us that all great comedy zeroes in on the eternal truths of human nature, which remain essentially unchanged over the centuries.  Every act of deception in Jonson's rumbustious world -- the play is set just a stone's throw from the theatre -- depends for its success on an equal act of self-deception by the victim.  We don't feel particularly sorry for Sir Epicure Mammon, Abel Drugger, Tribulation Wholesome and the Angry Boy because they bring their downfall on themselves by greed, ambition and stupidity.  Character, character, character, as the experts always say when laying down the secret of a good television sitcom.  From Jonson, go back to Plautus or forward to John Sullivan's scripts for Only Fools and Horses, and there's a golden thread of truth about human nature that will never be out of date.  Sullivan's Del Boy differs from Subtle and Face in believing in his own dodgy schemes, but otherwise there's a lot in common between his South London get-rich-quick world and that of Jonson's characters. 

London theatregoing doesn't get much better than this.  Russell Beale and Jennings are both past multiple award winners, and so is Nicholas Hytner, and if the gongs are awarded on merit this year, they should collect a few more.

Comments

[Museum of London]

Hi Ian

I enjoyed reading your post on the Alchemist. Spot on, I have to say - one of my preferred Johnson plays after Volpone. You also mentioned the History Matters campaign in passing which is why I’d like to invite you to take a look at a new website called “Map My London” which has just been launched by The Museum of London: (www.mapmylondon.com).

Map My London hopes to revolutionise the way the history of the city is gathered and displayed.

It would be great if you could take a look at the site and see if you would be interested in getting involved with uploading some of your best theatre memories or your general impressions of the capital, to help us create an emotional memory bank.

You will be able to upload your experiences about the city onto the Map My London site under headings including “Love and Loss”, “Beauty and Horror” and “Fate and Coincidence”.

The site will support contributions in the form of text, digital photographs, video clips and sound recordings and the best thing is that you will be able to have a link directly to your own personal map to put onto your blog. If this is something that you think that you’d like to get involved with, please visit www.mapmylondon.com.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the website.
Well done on the informative blog – I’ve got it bookmarked, so you might see some more comments from me in the future ;)

Kind regards
Rax, Museum of London

[Tom Green]

Couldn't agree more. I think Nick Hytner really knows how to bring a play to life...without making himself the star of the show.