Theater: Pickpocketing a Classic

The Alchemist, by Ben Jonson. It is ironic for the Lincoln Center Theater to be doing this play, since the troupe specializes in turning dramatic gold into lead. Some new actors are present, notably Michael O'Sullivan, a mutilatingly funny man. They help to steal the show from Jonson, but pickpocketing a classic is the meanest form of tribute. Body English is slammed at the playgoer, but he never hears the king's.

The comedy is set in plague-ridden London where a gentleman has fled the city and left his house in the care of his steward, Face (Robert Symonds). False Face teams up...

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