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smallhobbitSM and I both received emails from the RSC with the trailer for Volpone and both independently decided we wanted to go - so it just remained to book tickets on a date we could both go. (And when they had suitable tickets available - it's been very popular).
It was staged in the Swan Theatre, which I am growing more and more fond of. A smaller theatre than the main theatre, it has a much more intimate feel, which suits many plays. Volpone was written by Ben Johnson and this production is in repetory with The Jew of Malta, which we saw earlier this year, and therefore has a good number of the same cast.
The play is in modern dress and makes good use of modern technology - one aspect I particularly liked was when the doorbell sounded a camera shot was displayed to show who was at the door. When Volpone was pretending to be the mountebank his patter included mentions of Wayne Rooney and Berlusconi to great comic effect. Like last week a performance where the updating worked extremely well.
Henry Goodman, who played Volpone, was brilliant. I'm amazed I haven't seen him in anything else. He plays Volpone as himself and also as three different characters, and each time it was hard to believe he was the same person. The rest of the cast were equally good and the production was great fun throughout. Most of the characters were larger than life, and it is a credit to the actors that they didn't slip into caricature.
An excellent afternoon, a fun play with some great acting.
It was staged in the Swan Theatre, which I am growing more and more fond of. A smaller theatre than the main theatre, it has a much more intimate feel, which suits many plays. Volpone was written by Ben Johnson and this production is in repetory with The Jew of Malta, which we saw earlier this year, and therefore has a good number of the same cast.
The play is in modern dress and makes good use of modern technology - one aspect I particularly liked was when the doorbell sounded a camera shot was displayed to show who was at the door. When Volpone was pretending to be the mountebank his patter included mentions of Wayne Rooney and Berlusconi to great comic effect. Like last week a performance where the updating worked extremely well.
Henry Goodman, who played Volpone, was brilliant. I'm amazed I haven't seen him in anything else. He plays Volpone as himself and also as three different characters, and each time it was hard to believe he was the same person. The rest of the cast were equally good and the production was great fun throughout. Most of the characters were larger than life, and it is a credit to the actors that they didn't slip into caricature.
An excellent afternoon, a fun play with some great acting.
