I’ve just reread several plays by Ben Jonson after a gap of many years. The Alchemist, in particular, seems to me an almost miraculous feat of poetic and theatrical orchestration in an utterly unShakespearian way. In it, three conspirators – Subtle, the eponymous alchemist, Face, a butler pretending to be a military captain, and Doll Common, a prostitute –  deceive a succession of characters from different walks of life. All three conspirators themselves assume different roles and styles of speech to play on their victims’ fantasies.

What I remember from my first reading of it, lying on a bed in Pietermaritzburg … Continue Reading