Ben Jonson's Volpone, adapted by Martin Foreman

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"He's dying to get rich"
With the aid of wily servant Mosca, rich Volpone convinces the wealthy citizens of Venice that he is on his deathbed - prompting them to shower him with gifts in the hope that they will became his sole heir. Buoyed by success, the pair persuade merchant Corvino to offer his beautiful wife to bring Volpone back to health. Meanwhile a trio of English tourists get involved in Volpone's schemes. How will it all end?
Martin Foreman's adaptation of Ben Jonson's rollicking satire maintains all the elements of Jonson's plot while updating the language and setting to the nineteenth century. Jonson's jokes that stand the test of time are retained, while others are added to keep the laughter coming. The greatest change comes in transforming two leading characters into women: Corbaccia, the old lady who disinherits her son to get Volpone's riches, and Mosca, whose quick thinking saves herself and her master from potential discovery and offers them even greater rewards.
Filmed at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival. "A very enjoyable way to see one of the masterpieces of Jacobean theatre" (Fringeguru.com) "A strong lead [Alastair Lawless] carries the title role ... Mosca is one of theatre's great parts, and [Vanashree Thapliyal] has good comic timing." (public comments). Full cast list given at the end of the film.
The script of this version of Volpone can be ordered from arberybooks.co.uk.
Martin Foreman is an award-winning playwright and director whose works include Casanova Dreaming, Death on the Lido (Death in Venice revisited) and Now We Are Pope, based on the last day in the life of the writer Frederick Rolfe / Baron Corvo. All these and more are available on this youtube channel.
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Опубликовано:

16 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 33

@fairy5859 3 года назад

I've watched some Volpone plays but this is the best one by far. Actresses and actors are very good at acting.

@imoviesartculture2408 2 года назад

Such a great performance and acting method from all actors. Thank you for sharing this piece of art 💓

@MrUndersolo 2 года назад

Never saw it performed (reading it put me off Jonson's plays), but this is very well done.

@susandunne9950 Год назад

Magnificent - thank you so much for sharing this

@ArberyTheatre Год назад

Glad you enjoyed it!

@thumpertieder8110 3 года назад

I enjoyed watching this production, and I thank you for sharing it. The actors did an excellent job in their roles. The only issue that I have is with the changes. Too many lines were altered and females playing roles that were written for males detracted from the play. It did not make any sense to have Corbaccio as an old woman, which detracted from the play, and did Mosca as a female. Overall, I would rate this a solid 3.5 out of 5.

@ArberyTheatre 3 года назад

Glad you enjoyed it! A couple of explanations: The language was updated because many parts of the original are too difficult for the average audience today to understand easily. While they might keep up with the plot, many of the jokes would pass them by. In this version an effort was made to keep to the spirit of the original as far as possible. A comparison of the texts shows that while there was significant cutting with many minor characters excised, many lines stick close to the original, in idea if not always in vocabulary. Using a pseudo-19th century style and language bridges the gap between modern and early modern English while retaining a "classical feel." I have to disagree about the changing of sex of some of the characters. Mosca's being a woman adds a frisson to the original, oft-repeated lines from Volpone "Mosca, let me kiss you", while Corbaccia being a woman creates diversity from having three miserly men seeking Volpone's favour. I suspect that if Jonson were writing today, when the roles of women in society are significantly different and women, rather than young men can play women's roles, he would have brought similar variety to his cast. Ironically, Corbaccia was supposed to be played by a woman in this version, but none suitable for the role auditioned. Finally, devotees of classical theatre who are familiar with the original play and at ease with Jacobean English are likely to find many faults with this version. However, it succeeds for an audience unfamiliar with the conventions and language of the time - they can relax and enjoy themselves rather than find themselves straining to process a difficult text. If our Volpone leads to that audience seeking out a production or text of the original, so much the better.

@thumpertieder8110 3 года назад

@@ArberyTheatre I can see your points about the female characters, and for Mosca is worked. I would question a woman helping with the attempted assault of another woman, but Corbaccia I cannot agree with, but I still greatly enjoyed the production and have been sharing it in my classic literature groups. I understand the reason behind the changes to the jokes and language, but I still believe that people who are not familiar with the play will not be able to follow it, even with the changes made. in fact, my wife was not able to follow the play, and I still had to explain parts as we watched. As I said, I enjoyed the production and do feel you did a great job overall. I hope to see more productions in the future, and if you ever form a support page, I would gladly help. Thank you for the detailed explanation.

@ArberyTheatre 3 года назад

@@thumpertieder8110 Thanks for the offer of support. Apart from checking occasional updates on arberyproductions.co.uk, I can only suggest you buy a copy of the script from arberybooks.co.uk :-) Also, point taken on the difficulty of following, even with the 'update' but I thought that 21st century language would look absurd with 17th century costumes and 21st century costumes would lead into all sorts of questions - such as the pimping of Celia - that would have detracted from the story. The 19th century in both costumes and language seemed to be the best compromise between archaic and modern.

@monicathukral7887 2 года назад

Excellent!

@ArberyTheatre 2 года назад

Thank you!

@FreedomEscapismASMR 11 месяцев назад

A great production. Thank you. I loved it. ❤ I hope you share more plays. I hope you make Ben Johnson's play "alchemist." Thanks again.❤

@ArberyTheatre 11 месяцев назад

Thanks! We hadn't thought of the Alchemist, but it's a great idea!

@dreamdrawingartinvisible 11 месяцев назад

This is great 👍

@ArberyTheatre 11 месяцев назад

Glad you liked it :-)

@anthonytd103 3 года назад

Good production

@ArberyTheatre 3 года назад

Thanks 💯

@thumpertieder8110 3 года назад

Ah yes, Uploaded on my birthday.

@andreanaranjo162 Год назад

me trying to find that one celia monologue so I can know the context

@ArberyTheatre Год назад

Did you find it?

@AB-yb1yt 3 года назад

great!

@ArberyTheatre 3 года назад

Glad you liked it!

@alilateif.9863 2 года назад

I'm 10k views .good job. watching it for tomorrow's exam /:

@ArberyTheatre 2 года назад

Good luck!!

@henleyadrimar4571 3 месяца назад

Where is Celias monologue?

@ArberyTheatre 3 месяца назад

The most common monologue as revised here begins at 53.40, but you may want to watch the whole scene (after Corvino leaves) from 51.50

@torosalvajebcn 3 года назад

I am in love with Mosca, I got a weakness for brunettes.

@cherijoe 3 года назад

I am here because I'm greedy :)

@paddymeboy 9 месяцев назад

'Updating the language'? That's pretty arrogant. Nobody would dare do it with Shakespeare, and rightly so. It's like the remedial version. And although Volpone is okay, the rest of the cast is less than fantastic.

@ArberyTheatre 9 месяцев назад

Thanks for your thoughtful and helpful comment. You're right. No-one should change the language or make any changes such as shorter versions of Jonson's or Shakespeare's plays because that's arrogant. After all, if the Bard wrote them four hours long they should be performed four hours long and only in theatres where the rich have seats and everyone else has to stand. And definitely not in modern dress because that's also arrogant. As for the cast, let us know where you live so that you can come to the auditions and ensure that we have a cast that pleases you - those other people who had the nerve to praise other actors, well, they're just being arrogant too.