Performance Notes for Educators
Prepared by Katie Stewart
The purpose of this document is to provide Queensland educators with information and resources for
The
e Alchemist. The activities and resources contained in
Queensland Theatre Company’s production of Th
this document are designed as the starting point for educators in developing more comprehensive
lessons for this production. Katie Stewart is seconded to Queensland Theatre Company from Education
Queensland as an Education Liaison Officer.
Assisted by the Commonwealth Government through
the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
© Queensland Government (Education Queensland) and Queensland Theatre Company 2009. Copyright protects this publication.
Except for the purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited. However, limited
photocopying for classroom use is permitted by educational institutions that have a license with the Copyright Agency Limited
(CAL). This material includes work from the Education Liaison Officer and is reproduced with the permission of the owner,
Department of Education, Queensland, PO Box 33, Brisbane Albert Street, Queensland, Australia, 4002. Any inquiries should be
addressed to the Education Liaison Officer, Youth & Education Program, Queensland Theatre Company, PO Box 3310 South
Brisbane BC Queensland 4101.
Produced by Queensland Theatre Company and Education Queensland.
Table of Contents
How to Act at the Theatre
3
Synopsis & Artistic Team
4
Curriculum Connections
5
Video Space
6
About the Playwright
7
Director’s Insight – John Bell
8
Designer’s Insight – Bruce McKinven
9
Actor’s Insight – Liz Skitch
10
Actor’s Insight – Sandro Colarelli
11
Article – Alchemists: Scientists or Con-Artists
12
Exposing Artifice: Wardrobe takes a leading role in The Alchemist
14
Post Performance Discussion Questions and Websites of Interest
17
Script Excerpt – The Alchemist
18
Classroom Activities & Suggested Assessment
20
Set Model Box
21
2
How to Act at the Theatre (when you’re not on stage)
We recommend that you read through the following points so you get maximum entertainment value
when you come along to one of Queensland Theatre Company’s productions.
Be in your seat five minutes before the show starts
Food and drinks are not permitted in the theatre
Be respectful to other audience members
TURN OFF all electrical devices before entering the theatre
Save note taking and discussion for AFTER the show
Feel free to laugh, cry and applaud
3
Synopsis – The Alchemist
Lovewit has left his London town-house in the hands of ‘Jeremy’, his
butler. From this base, three confidence tricksters - Face (the butler
Jeremy), Subtle the alchemist and Dol Common the prostitute – run a
major con operation.
Using promises of Subtle’s occult powers, the three attract a string of
targets to the premises, to fleece them of their money. The young
Dapper is promised a charm to help him win at cards. Drugger the
tobacconist is promised Elizabethan feng shui for his shop. Mammon the
gentleman is promised the fabled Philosopher’s Stone that can turn
metals into gold.
Gradually the house becomes so full of fools, all taking part in different schemes, that the three confidence
tricksters need to change clothes, hide people, and eventually blow up the laboratory to explain why they
in fact don’t have the supernatural secrets of alchemy.
Matters are complicated by Surly, a suspicious servant disguised as a Spanish Don. He hopes to unmask
them, a group of pious Puritans who want the wealth of alchemy to fund their ministry, and the unexpected
return of Lovewit. The gang have to think fast and talk faster to get out of the scrape.
In the end Doll and Subtle manage to escape unpunished, but empty-handed. Mammon’s goods are
restored to him, but the Puritans’ are not. The other victims either flee or are driven away. Lovewit marries
Kastril’s sister Dame Pliant, with his approval, and they leave together. Face is restored, without
punishment and with financial reward, to his original place as Jeremy, Lovewit’s butler.
Artistic Team
Sandro Colarelli
Patrick Dickson
Russell Kiefel
Peter Kowitz
Bryan Probets
Liz Skitch
Lucas Stibbard
Richard Sydenham
Georgina Symes
Andrew Tighe
David Whitney
Scott Witt
Surly
Subtle the Alchemist
Lovewit
Tribulation Wholesome
Dapper
Dame Pliant
Abel Drugger
Ananias
Dol Common
Face the Servant
Sir Epicure Mammon
Kastril
John Bell
Bruce McKinven
Matt Scott
Christina Koch
Scott Witt
Director
Designer
Lighting Designer
Assistant Director
Fight Choreographer
Peter Sutherland
Jennifer Buckland
Marianne Close
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Production Crafts/
Costume Secondment NIDA
4
Curriculum Connections
Themes / Ideas
Keeping up appearances and reality
Change and transformation
Human gullibility
Performance / Dramatic Elements
Elements
Jacobean Theatre
Farce
Renaissance comedy
Clowning
The Alchemist is an excellent example of the Jacobean theatre style and presents us with a satirical
window through which we can see how alchemy and British life were perceived in the opening decade of
the 17th Century. It satirises human gullibility and manipulates perceptions of reality and truth.
[R] 2 hrs 15 mins, no interval (10 min post-show Q&A at Wednesday matinees only)
[L] Occasional coarse language
[V] Simulated violence
[S] Sexual overtones and references to sex
This fast-paced and sophisticated play is an excellent example of how actors can use physical performance
and clowning techniques when interpreting classical text for contemporary audiences. The play is suitable
for Year 11 and 12 Drama and English students as well as mature Year 10 students.
5
Video Space
Visit the following link at Queensland Theatre Company:
http://www.qldtheatreco.com.au/photo_video/videos/
Here you will fine interviews with the director of The Alchemist John Bell and two of the actors from the
production, Liz Skitch and Lucas Stibbard.
6
About the Playwright – Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson was born in or around London in 1572, the
posthumous son of a Clergyman. According to some sources
he was sent to a private school in St Martin’s Church then
later to Westminster, where his tutor, the eminent antiquary
William Camden, probably instilled in him that taste for the
classics which was to influence strongly his subsequent work
as a dramatist.
About 1589, most likely because of poverty, Jonson left
Westminster and followed his stepfather’s trade of
bricklaying. He served as a soldier in the Netherlands,
married, and was a member of a strolling company of actors –
but little is known of his career until 28 July 1597, when
Henslowe’s Diary records a loan of £4 made to Jonson as an
actor at Paris Garden. On the same day the privy council
ordered all London theatres suppressed, as a result of the performance of a play now lost, The Isle of Dogs.
Probably for his share with Nashe in the writing of this play, Jonson was imprisoned in the Marshalsea until
an order was signed on 3 October that year for his release.
By mid September 1598 Jonson’s reputation as a writer of comedy was established, particularly as a result
of Every Man in His Humour being played by the Lord Chamberlain’s Company, a performance in which
Shakespeare acted a part. On 22 September Jonson killed his fellow actor, Gabriel Spencer, in a duel.
When brought to trial, he confessed and claimed right of clergy; his property was confiscated and his
thumb branded. While in prison he converted to Roman Catholicism, but later found it prudent to switch
sides. He took a commission to track down a priest involved in the Gunpowder Plot, and reported that up to
500 people were implicated.
Jonson’s tragedy Sejanus was performed in 1603 and was unpopular, resulting in political attacks of it and
causing him to be questioned by the privy council. Late in 1604 he collaborated with Chapman and Marston
in writing Eastward Ho! and, when they were sent to prison “for citing something against the Scots”,
Jonson voluntarily accompanied them.
Early in 1606 Jonson composed Volpone; towards the close of 1609, Epicoene; in 1610, The Alchemist; and
in 1611 another tragedy Catiline His Conspiracy which was as little of a success as Sejanus had been.
During the first years of the century Jonson formed friendships with some of the greatest wits of the day
and with eminent patrons such as the Countess of Bedford, the Countess of Rutland, Lady Wroth, and the
Earl of Pembroke.
Following the performance of Bartholemew Fair in October 1614 and The Devil is an Ass in 1616, Jonson
produced no plays for about nine years, although he wrote a few masques. In the summer of 1618 he set
out for Scotland, where he visited William Drummond of Hawthornden, whose notes on Jonson’s
conversations are invaluable for biographical details and for their criticisms of his contemporaries.
7
Director’s Insight — John Bell
Why did you choose to direct The Alchemist
Alchemist?
Ben Jonson is Shakespeare’s greatest contemporary, but
little of his work is now performed in Australia. We should
be more familiar with his work, many of which are comic
masterpieces.
Why do you think this play is relevant to a contemporary
audience?
audience?
It is about the kind of greed that has led to today’s
economic crisis. It is also about gullibility — peoples
desperate desire to believe, which makes them prey to all sorts of salesmen, frauds, politicians and
preachers.
What challenges have you encountered
encountered while directing this work?
Jonson’s language is more vernacular and slangy than Shakespeare and therefore more a victim of time.
Hence, I have edited the play quite heavily and translated some of the more obscure passages. The plot is
convoluted and needs to be carefully spelled out. The pace needs to be lively without being frantic and the
characters need to be extreme but still real, not caricatures.
8
Designer – Bruce Mckinven
What was the inspiration for your design?
The Alchemist is a play about deceit. People tend to want or
need to believe in something, often so much so that they are
willing to ignore all the obvious signs of trickery and lies. This
remains true today. It struck me, that in many ways, we ask
an audience something similar every time they watch a
performance. We ask them to participate in a similar deceitful
premise, by suspending their disbelief. This is how we settled
on the rehearsal room/improvised feel for the production
concept.
What was unique about the design process for The Alchemist?
For the costume designs, John and I decided to throw open the collaborative process somewhat.
Normally a costume concept is conceived between the Director and Designer prior to rehearsals, and this
strongly guides the process of realising the costumes. The actors then become involved during rehearsals,
and I work with each actor individually to arrive at an agreed look that supports their understanding of the
character, as well as mine, and one that works within the context of the production.
For this process, we initiated discussions with the actors from the outset, which was about 3 months
before rehearsals began.
Armed with the ideas that John, the actors and myself brought to our initial discussions, John and I began
sifting through the costume stock rooms of Queensland Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare. Making
several more trips on my own, clothing items and characters began to appear, sometimes in the unlikeliest
of garments. If you start looking for something, and you can’t find it, you are led down different paths and
are forced to find the idea in another look. This is perhaps the most interesting part of this process, that
you give over some design decisions almost to chance, or at least what you happen to find and what you
happen to see in it. The costumes become more like found-object sculptures, each one taking you on an
individual journey. I think you need to be far more trusting of your process to know that this will work… and
it’s quite a lengthy process — ascertaining the choices you have to draw from, dragging clothing out of
storage, putting it together on the mannequin, trying different combinations, but it can also be very
amusing coming up with these odd collages, and I appreciate that some pieces of clothing hidden in stock
for so long, are getting another run onstage.
9
Actor’s Insight — Liz Skitch
How is your process as an actor for this production different
from other productions?
Well, in the past I have worked on small scale productions
of new work. This means that there are usually only a few of
us in the rehearsal room and we are making the
characters/story up as we go along or making changes to it
as we go. This can be quite stressful because I am carrying
out the role of the writer and actor simultaneously.
Sometimes on top of this, between rehearsals I go into the
office and also work on publicity and other production
business.
Working on The Alchemist, things are completely different.
There is a huge cast and the play has been tried and true over a couple of hundred years and we are
completely supported by Queensland Theatre Company. This means I get to focus one hundred per cent on
being an actor and I don’t have to worry about all the other things.
But essentially, the acting process is the same. Finding characters through story analysis, physicality,
voice and costume.
What have you gained as an actor from this rehearsal process, specifically working with John Bell?
Well firstly a boost in confidence through getting the part in the first place! John is a very generous director
and being an actor and director himself, he understands what we are all going through at different stages
of the process. The biggest thing I have learned from him is, it’s okay to admit you don’t know what
something means. In the first week we all spent a lot of time reading the script together and it was totally
okay to stop at any time and ask questions. Because we have been through this process, the text is no
longer intimidating and we can own it as we say the words.
He has also taught me a lot about physicality, rhythm and trusting myself as an actor.
What challenges have you faced in rehearsal playing your character?
Walking in high heels! And trying to decide whether or not to have a pet dog in my character’s handbag … if
only I could have a live one!
10
Actor’s Insight — Sandro Colarelli
How is your process as an actor for this production
different from other productions?
Because it is such a complex plot and there are numerous
characters involved, we have rehearsed the play in
sections. I am not called for every rehearsal, so I have to
do lots of work by myself or with the assistant director.
John Bell wants us to show him what we have been
working on when we next appear for a rehearsal.
What have you gained as an actor from this rehearsal
process, specifically working with John Bell?
A very thorough lesson in how to prepare a script written
in verse and a fascinating insight into the period of theatre history that this play was written in. The
language is a big challenge and this is an area where John Bell’s expertise is an invaluable resource.
What challenges have you faced in rehearsal playing your character?
character?
Having to learn lines in Spanish. I have never studied the language.
11
Alchemists — Scientists or Con-artists?
Alchemy: the process
process of transforming base metal into gold
Our language and the terminology may have changed, but perhaps our world is still full of would-be
alchemists and con-artists. Do we not have scientific thinkers in various fields wishing, with the best of
intentions, to make something new and better from little – alongside the ingenious schemers, themselves
base and simply wishing to become rich through gulling and defrauding others? In essence, has this aspect
of humanity changed much?
In advanced Western economies financial regulation is certainly much more intense than it was in Jonson’s
day. Gold is no longer the only fallback for financial security. Financial derivatives, shares and other
intangibles are now equally desired glittering grails. The opportunities for today’s alchemists and con
artists have in many ways expanded, as has the number of potential victims. The desire to get rich at the
expense of others has not diminished. Has the corresponding increase in regulation and scrutiny been
sufficient to protect these people?
The world is in a financial crisis. This arose from the marketing of mortgage derivatives in the USA over a
number of years. These were touted as being safer than mortgages themselves – but little attention was
given to the underlying financial security for them. They turned out to be a kind of fool’s gold. The collapse
of the subprime mortgage market led to a crisis of confidence and a shortage of credit that has plunged the
world into its current crisis. A number of investment banks have gone bankrupt, and governments have
been spending hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up the system. In the meantime, the purveyors of
these products have kept their large bonuses.
Con-artists can’t be classed in the same category as thieves, because they don’t actually steal; the victims
give them the money. There are obvious front-runner examples in recent Australian history such as
Christopher Skase and Alan Bond. But it appears to be an ongoing global phenomenon.
Disgraced investment baron Bernard Madoff, former NASDAQ stock market chairman, was arrested on 11
December 2008 on securities fraud charges alleging he duped investors out of as much as $AUD70 billion.
Allegedly he admitted to running a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme (pyramid scam), in which individual
investors, charities, banks and universities have all lost fortunes. Hollywood victims of his schemes include
actor Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedjwick, a charity linked to director Steven Spielberg and his
DreamWorks partner, and screenwriter Eric Roth whose credits include Forrest Gump (1994) and The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Madoff is currently confined to his Manhattan apartment under
bail conditions.
“To be a great salesman, you have to be a great conman,” Gold Coast operator Peter Foster has reportedly
said. He received his first criminal conviction when he was 20 years old, for his involvement in attempted
insurance fraud, and he became notorious on three continents for pushing a variety of falsely-labelled and
dubious products – from Bai Lin tea to thigh reducing cream. He achieved further notoriety in 2002 with the
“Cheriegate affair” when his involvement in assisting Cherie Blair with the purchase of two flats in Bristol
at knocked-down prices was revealed. Foster said of that fiasco “It was the most legitimate deal I’ve done
in my life.” In April 2008 Foster lost an appeal against his four and a half years jail term for money
laundering. Yet, for many years, Foster’s shenanigans and reputation as “the milkshake tycoon, wonder
kid, whiz kid” endeared him to many, including Chris Nyst, Foster’s former solicitor. “… the people of the
Gold Coast see him as one of their own. He’s a mug lair and he’s a spiv and he’s a rat, but you know, he’s
our spiv and he’s our rat, and he’s part of what we are”, said Nyst (Australian Story IV). Like the character
of Subtle in The Alchemist, Foster was renowned for being bright, affable and a brilliant conversationalist.
Like Subtle, he conned two types of people: gullible and ill-informed consumers looking for cheap and
12
quick solutions to their problems, and people who’d invested money with him in any one of a number of
schemes.
Then there’s Nick Leeson, the former derivatives trader whose speculative trading on Singapore’s
International Monetary Exchange caused the 1995 collapse of Barings Bank, the UK’s oldest investment
bank. Leeson, like Subtle, attempted to hide his losses and pretend things were other than what they
were. He attempted to cover bad trades and losses using an account in the bank’s name, and when a
number of risky investments went wrong, he fled the country. He was extradited and sent to Changi Prison,
during which time he wrote a book Rogue Trader, which has since been made into a film of the same name
starring Ewan Macgregor and Anna Friel.
Spielberg’s popular film Catch Me if You Can (2002) is based on the true story of con artist extraordinaire
Frank Abagnale Jr, and chronicles the exploits of the teenage impostor who skimmed banks of $AUD4
million before his 20th birthday, with the FBI hot on his trail. In Jody Harris, Australia has had its own
“brazen fraudster” dubbed the “catch meif you can con woman”. Between January and May 2006 Harris
fleeced $AUD150,000 from victims and large banking institutions, and stole the identities of 15 women,
going on spending frenzies, before being arrested and convicted of fraud and theft.
Other famous con films include The Grifters (1990, starring John Cusack), The Sting (1973, starring Paul
Newman and Robert Redford), The Heist (1972, starring Goldie Hawn), The Getaway (The 1972 original with
Steve McQueen and the 1994 re-make with Kym Basinger), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988, with Steve
Martin). Then there are television drama series about teams of con men, for example Hustle (BBC 1,
currently screening). An entire vocabulary has sprung up around the concept of conning others, with big,
classic cons reaching their peak of use and infamy between 1914 and 1923. And let’s not forget even
Rumpelstiltskin from our fairy stories, the funny little man at the ready for the poor miller’s daughter - as
both alchemist and blackmailer.
Our capitalist society promotes the pursuit of wealth. Our history, culture and literature are filled with
characters who seek to fly high - among them those who, along the way, either intentionally or not, end up
scamming others for their own gain.
It’s a fine line they tread, those who set out to conjure gold.
13
Exposing Artifice: Wardrobe takes a leading role in The Alchemist
With this production of The Alchemist director John Bell and designer Bruce McKinven take us into a space
which purposely gives the feel of a rehearsal room. Costume racks form improvised doorways, and the
actors themselves become their various characters on-stage. There is a sense of them playing dress-ups,
of their “winging it” and improvising as if with objects just found from stock in the rehearsal room. The
design is one of deliberate carelessness, to highlight the largerthan- life, extravagant and tightly energetic
world of deceit, mirrors and dexterous trickery that Jonson’s clever and colourful script presents.
The Alchemist is a play about deceit. People tend to want or need to believe in something; often so much
so that they are willing to ignore all the obvious signs of trickery and lies. This remains true today; showing
this script has stood the test of time. In many ways, we ask an audience something similar every time they
watch a performance; we ask them to participate in a similar ‘deceitful’ premise, by suspending their
disbelief. This is how John and Bruce settled on the rehearsal room/ improvised feel for this production.
The costume pieces provide key clues signifying character and character changes in The Alchemist.
Gayle Macgregor, Head of Wardrobe for the past 11 years, and part of Queensland Theatre Company’s
family for the past 26 years, leaves this year to pursue a freelance career. This is her last show with us in
this capacity. We talked with both Gayle and Bruce recently regarding the process by which the costumes
in this production came about, and the unique history of the many costume pieces that are specially
coming out of Queensland Theatre Company “stock” for this production.
“Costumes help the actors find the character,” Gayle explained. “Once the actors see the concept of their
costume at the first or second fitting (usually week one or two of rehearsals) you’ll often hear them say
“Now I know where I’m going”; it gives them a better idea of what the director and designer are wanting.”
John Bell has been actively involved with the design and costume concepts from an early stage. Bruce
prepared an enormous reference ‘bible’ of character’s costumes and the different trajectories they could
evolve into. He presented John with this brainstorm and they spent hours going through each character,
discussing the directions they could take, by using cues from the language in the script. Then the actors
were asked for their input regarding their characters’ costumes, to an extent not usual for Queensland
Theatre Company. The actors didn’t have free rein, it was a process of “controlled negotiation” but Gayle
thinks the actors’ personalities will show through a little.
“It was crazy, and it was fun, a bit like being in an Op-Shop,” Gayle reported. “Bruce did a lot of serious,
hard work setting it up.” Bruce put the outfits on racks in order of preference for the actors before they
came in, and when they came in there was negotiating of all the different opinions, and constant dialogue
between all parties. There was a certain amount of liberation to this process, as Bruce explained:
“Normally a costume concept, conceived between the director and designer prior to rehearsals, guides the
process of realizing the costumes. The actors become involved once rehearsals start, and I work with each
actor individually to arrive at an agreed look that supports their understanding of the character as well as
mine, and one that works within the context of the production. However for this production, where we are
using the artifice of theatre to expose the deceit of the play, we decided to throw open the collaborative
process somewhat. Armed with the ideas that John, the actors and myself brought to our initial
discussions, John and I began sifting through the costume stock rooms of Queensland Theatre Company
and Bell Shakespeare. Making several more trips on my own, clothing items and characters begin to
appear, but sometimes in the unlikeliest of garments. If you start looking for something, and you can’t find
it, you are lead down different paths and are forced to find the idea in another look. This is perhaps the
most interesting part of this process – that you give over some design decisions almost to ‘chance’, or at
14
least what you happen to find and what you happen to see in it. The costumes become more like foundobject sculptures, each one taking you on an individual journey. I think you need to be far more trusting of
your process to know that this will work … and it’s quite a lengthy process - ascertaining the choices you
have to draw from, dragging heavy clothing out of storage, putting it together on the mannequin, trying
different combinations … but it can also be very amusing coming up with these odd collages, and I also
really enjoy that some pieces of clothing hidden in stock for so long, are getting another run onstage.”
Some of our audience may recognise elements of the characters’ costumes from previous Queensland
Theatre Company productions, or from donations made over the Company’s history. A big thank you to
those donors who have bequeathed special costume items that now form part of the ‘stock’ of Queensland
Theatre Company’s Wardrobe, several of which have been unearthed and assisted the design inspiration of
this production.
A lot of elements of these costumes have been consciously allowed to evolve in rehearsals in step with the
interpretation of the characters themselves (some may vary slightly from when the above was written). In
this sense, and in the prominence given to costume in this production, costume here plays a role in its own
right.
Characters
Subtle, the Alchemist: Some stock has come from Bell Shakespeare. Subtle the con-artist, has a neglected
deteriorated look. This is intended to highlight his trickery and deceit as well as the immense gullibility of
his ‘clients’; in a very lazy manner, Subtle makes little effort to change his looks for the different guises he
undertakes, with the simple addition of objects or clothing items that happen to be close at hand. He has a
base costume of pyjama pants and an old undershirt.
Face, the Housekeeper has a naval look, because ‘Captain’ is a disguise that Face takes through much of
the script. The naval jacket, breeches and his boots are Queensland Theatre Company stock from The
Tempest (1999). His hat is from Puss in Boots (2006). Other characters played by this actor are signified by
a Wellington cap, and wearing a heavy weather raincoat backwards to form a lab coat.
Dol Common, their colleague: As the name implies, Dol is “common”, modelled on the likes of singer Amy
Winehouse in rehab. The jeans from which her skirt is taken were last seen in the 1980s in Chorus of
Disapproval. She also wears a donated Kimono. When Dol dresses as the Great Lady, her costume was
inspired by Princess Di and Margaret Thatcher. She wears a dress made for The Tragedy of King Richard
the Second (2001). When Dol appears as the Queen of Fairy, she is a Dominatrix with feathers. Her gown is
modelled on one worn in A Month in the Country (1990), and her feathered skirt is taken from Arial in The
Tempest (1999).
Some of the costume elements in this production have been meticulously copied and re-made from stock
because the original is too fragile to use for a touring production. One example is the cotton, net vintage
bolero jacket that Dol Common wears as Queen of Fairy.
Dapper, a Clerk: All Dapper’s clothes are ill-fitting and pinched, and mismatched pin-striped parts of suits.
The jacket was last seen in Shadow and Splendour (1992), the waistcoat was made for The Venetian Twins
(2004) and the trousers are from a 1970s donation.
Drugger, a Tobacconist: Drugger’s pants are from a 1940s suit last on stage in Mano Nera (2005), and the
knitted vest was last seen in The Cherry Orchard (2004). Drugger’s hat is from The Sunshine Club (1999)
and his sandals from Money and Friends (1992). This actor’s second role, a Neighbour, has here been
characterised as a butcher. His T-shirt was last seen in A Streetcar Named Desire (2006).
15
Lovewit: The master of the house (the property owner) is garbed in a shiny silver suit indicative of
someone presenting themselves as a gentleman but with a crook/ gangster edge, evoking Al Capone or a
character from The Sopranos (1999). The deep plum frock coat he wears on his journey home was last worn
in Bell Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2008).
Sir Epicure Mammon, A Knight: Gluttonous and luxurious, his look is inspired by the Monty Python (1983)
character Mr Creosote. We have altered and added much padding to a Queensland Theatre Company stock
fat suit and his red velvet coat is from Bell Shakespeare’s stock.
Surly, A Gamester: In the course of the scripted action Surly takes on the disguise of a Spaniard, in order to
trick Subtle and Face, and to expose their game. For this reason the Spanish costume needs to be very
‘theatrical’ and even more clichéd and heightened than the outfits the other actors don.
Tribulation, a Anabaptist: Puritan look, hint of the Amish about him (the Amish being descendants of the
Dutch Anabaptist movement). Discussion led to conclusion that the character is almost an American
evangelist figure, looser in character (and therefore costume) than Ananais; he is more corrupt than
Ananais. His robe has been in Queensland Theatre Company’s stock for the last twenty years. Ananias, A
Deacon: A bound, stitched-up character. Actor Richard Sydenham suggested that his character’s look may
borrow some visual cues from the likes of John Howard, George Pell and Tony Abbott. At the time of
publication he has a tight, almost binding suit being tailored for him.
Kastril, The Angry Boy: Determined to learn how to quarrel properly, this young man has desperately tried
to put together a fashionable, streetwise look. Failing dramatically in his attempts, he looks like a rock star
gone wrong (2000) with feathers added down the side, an idea borrowed from the trousers that Jason
Klarwein wore for Phaedra (2003). His vintage creamy brown fur coat was purchased for this production
and the belt is from Romeo and Juliet (1993).
Dame Pliant, A Widow: Has a wealthy, trashy look inspired by Paris Hilton. She is rich, young, from the
country and not very smart. Her sequin dress was last used in John Gabriel Borkman (2007) and at the time
of publication, her hat and shoes are from The Importance of Being Earnest (2008).
Patrick Dickson
16
Post-Performance Discussion Questions
What themes are represented in the play? Give examples of scenes or characters that reinforce
your ideas.
How are these themes relevant to a contemporary audience or to contemporary society? Consider
the Director’s Insight.
What other aspects of the production appeals to a contemporary audience? E.g. design, costumes
or interpretation of characters.
As a contemporary audience the language can be difficult to understand. What elements of the
production assisted your understanding of the story and characters? Did the actors’ pace and
timing of their lines assist in your understanding?
Choose two characters who you think changed over the course of the play? Discuss how they
changed.
Who do you think holds the power as the play progresses?
After watching the play and reading the character descriptions, discuss why you think the actors
chose the costumes they did for their character?
Websites of Interest
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/benbio.htm — Ben Johnson
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-alchemist/ — The Alchemist Study Guide
http://www.enotes.com/alchemist — The Alchemist Study Guide
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/jn-alch0.html — Ben Johnson The Alchemist
http://www.unap.cl/metadot/index.pl?id=11693&isa=Item&field_name=item_attachment_file&op=down
load_file — Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre
http://www.bartleby.com/60/203.html — Elizabethan Comedy and The Alchemist
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/ent/A0857466.html — Evolution of Comedy
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Script Excerpt — The Alchemist
THE FIRST ACT
SCENE I: A room in LOVEWIT's House.
[Enter Face, in a captain's uniform, with his sword drawn, and Subtle with a vial, quarrelling, and
followed by Dol Common.]
FACE
Believe 't, I will.
SUBTLE
Thy worst. I fart at thee.
DOL
Have you your wits? Why, gentlemen! For love –
FACE
Sirrah, I'll strip you.
SUBTLE
What to do, Lick figs out at my –
FACE
Rogue, rogue, out of all your sleights!
DOL
Nay, look ye, sovereign, general, are you mad-men?
SUBTLE
O, let the wild sheep loose. I'll gum your silks
With good strong water, if you come.
DOL
Will you have
The neighbours hear you? Will you betray all!
Hark ! I hear somebody.
FACE
Sirrah –
SUBTLE
I shall mar
All that the tailor has made, if you approach.
FACE
You most notorious whelp, you insolent slave,
Dare you do this?
SUBTLE
Yes, faith; yes, faith.
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FACE
Why, who
Am I, my mungrel! who am I?
SUBTLE
I'll tell you,
Since you know not yourself.
FACE
Speak lower, rogue.
SUBTLE
Yes, you were once [time's not long past] the good,
Honest, plain, livery-three-pound-thrum, that kept
Your master's house here in the Blackfriars,
During the vacations FACE
Will you be so loud?
SUBTLE
And since, by my means, transformed into a captain.
FACE
By your means, doctor dog!
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Classroom Activity
After reading the Actor’s Insights and watching the interview with John Bell on the Queensland Theatre
Company’s website, choose a character from the excerpt on page 16 and consider the creative processes
the actors and John Bell discuss. Use the activity below as a guide to begin working with characters from
The Alchemist.
CONTEXT: An afternoon at the town markets
After choosing a character from the excerpt, students can choose two lines that they believe
represent their character the best. Allow the students to discuss the meaning of the lines, the pace
and rhythm of the lines
They are to use an appropriate object, prop or costume to further develop their character and
allow them to play with this for a while
They are to consider the physical focus of their body, and whether their character has a negative
physicality or a positive physicality. E.g. are their shoulders hunched or is their chest wide
Students move around the space/town market with their fellow actors exploring their physicality
and the character’s mannerisms and how they may respond to people bumping into them or
looking at them etc.
The teacher can control the interactions by asking them to freeze and then choose 2 — 3
characters to improvise in the space, using their lines to begin the improvisation
Suggested Assessment
FORMING TASK AND PRESENTING TASK
Using the excerpt from The Alchemist or another heritage text of relevance to your unit, students can write
a dramatic treatment for a physical theatre presentation, including comedy, clowning and commedia
techniques and transform the heritage text.
Students can then rehearse in groups and perform the physical theatre excerpt for their performance task.
RESPONDING TASK
After viewing Queensland Theatre Company’s performance of The Alchemist, watching the interviews on
the website and reading the Artists Insights, choose two significant themes of The Alchemist. For example,
greed and gullibility.
Responding to the production, students can discuss how dramatic meaning was created, focusing on the
two themes, and communicate a justified position that evaluates the dramatic languages and dramatic
action throughout the performance, reinforcing their perspective. Students can also discuss,
philosophically why they believe these ideas are important in The Alchemist and how they are relevant to a
contemporary audience.
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Set Model Box
Front Elevation
Plan View [from in front of proscenium]
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