The Alchemist OP

Two of my scheduled Shakespeare plays were canceled due to Covid outbreaks in the cast. Tonight, I saw the last play of my series in Boulder, which was an original practices production of Ben Jonson’s farce, The Alchemist. It was a silly farce about some servants trying to con a variety people wishing an advantage in money, gambling, love, … , while the master of the house is away due to the plague. The play itself was pretty silly, but the energy brought by an original practices production is always fun to see performed. Due to the illnesses in the cast, a number of the key parts had to be played by understudies, including even the artistic director having to play a role. The only lack, if there was one, is that even some of the cast had to be replaced at the last minute, so they ended up using scripts, which meant they didn’t mess up the lines too much (which is part of the fun of OP). Nevertheless, it was quite impressive to see their acting considering it was very lat minute, even with a script. It was a very warm night, and an enjoyable play to see for my last night in Boulder.