LONDON. 1610.
It’s plague time again.
When a wealthy gentleman flees to the country, his trusted servant opens his house to a pair of con artists and sets up a den of criminal capitalism. Claiming alchemical powers, the quick-witted trio fleece an onslaught of greedy sheep with their virtuosic ability to improvise amidst increasingly frantic comings and goings. It’s comic gold with dupes, double-dupes, duels, disguises, and a lucky flea named “Lewis”.
This new version of Jonson’s rowdy comedy classic is adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Jesse Berger – the pair that created the 2017 production of the hit comedy The Government Inspector.
Tony Award-nominated actors Manoel Felciano (To Kill a Mockingbird, Amélie, Sweeney Todd) and Reg Rogers (Broadway's Tootsie, The Royal Family) team up with Jennifer Sánchez (Broadway's Pretty Woman, On Your Feet) as the play's trio of tricksters. Nathan Christopher (Off-Broadway debut); Stephen DeRosa (Broadway's Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, Into the Woods, The Man Who Came to Dinner); Carson Elrod (Broadway's Peter and The Starcatcher, Noises Off); Teresa Avia Lim (Broadway's Junk at Lincoln Center Theater); Jacob Ming-Trent (Falstaff in Shakespeare in the Park’s Merry Wives); Louis Mustillo ("Mike & Molly"); and Allen Tedder (Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird) complete the cast.
LIMITED OFF-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENT
Ended December 15th, 2021
Ben Jonson's THE ALCHEMIST
A comedy adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
directed by Jesse Berger
Scenic Design | Alexis Distler
Costume Design | Tilly Grimes
Lighting Design | Cha See
Original Music & Sound Design | Greg Pliska
Wig & Makeup Design | Tommy Kurzman
Production Stage Manager | Rebecca McBee
Featuring
Nathan Christopher
Stephen DeRosa
Carson Elrod
Manoel Felciano
Teresa Avia Lim
Jacob Ming-Trent
Louis Mustillo
Reg Rogers
Jennifer Sánchez
Allen Tedder
“Geez, what a hoot! This rogue’s gallery of comic geniuses, helmed by director Jesse Berger, opened the Red Bull Theater’s production of Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Ben Jonson’s satiric comedy. This is an extravaganza of gut-busters, such a cavalcade of characters. Hilarious! Go!”
– Justin Squigs Robertson | lllustrator
"Once you enter Red Bull Theater’s good-natured staging of The Alchemist, your troubles should all dissolve into its warm, candlelit foolishness. Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Ben Jonson’s 1610 farce is a giddy whirl, sweeter and less cynical than the original."
– Vulture / New York Magazine
★★★★ Critic's Pick |"The cast is a gas...Manoel Felciano plays the London butler Face, who uses his absent master’s house as the base for schemes to bilk pigeons from their ducats. He is joined by two partners in crime: the louche Subtle, played with grandiose ooze by Reg Rogers (any actor can draw out a vowel, but no one draws out consonants so well), and the loose Dol Common, played by Jennifer Sánchez, who adds feminine wiles to the package and delivers bawdy-awdy-awdy in a skintight gold get-up. Jacob Ming-Trent is delightful as the sybaritic Sir Epicure Mannon, whose lust gets the better even of his greed, and the great Carson Elrod brings dynamite comic invention to his portrayal of a dull-minded wastrel; Stephen DeRosa is a Dutch treat as a blond-bobbed Puritan from Holland, and Nathan Christopher brings charmingly dim sunniness to the role of a love-struck tobacconist. Rounding out the cast with gusto are Louis Mustillo, Allen Tedder and Teresa Ava Lim"...Fun to watch."
– Time Out NY
"Shenanigans and slapstick ensue, spiced with an abundance of saucy double, and sometimes single entendres. The dialogue often zings, and Berger orchestrates the farcical comings and goings-on Alexis Distler’s bi-level set at the requisite madcap pace."
– The New York Times
★★★★ | "Jesse Berger, who heads the Red Bull Theater, has a soft spot in his heart for comedy/dramas past and has now given The Alchemist more than a moment’s thought. He’s directed and produced an entertaining revival-revisal for our time. He’s accomplished this using Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation and tapping some of the best farceurs hanging around these days. This comedic posse, primed to check in anywhere from mildly risible to hilarious to outright outrageous, consists of Reg Rogers, Manoel Felciano, Jennifer Sanchez, Carson Elrod, Stephen DeRosa, Jacob Ming-Trent, Louis Mustillo, Nathan Christopher, Allen Tedder, and Teresa Avia Lim."
– NY Stage Review
"A crackling new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher. Powered by implausible situations and the kind of supercharged comic performances that make those situations seem perfectly acceptable, The Alchemist represents a mighty return for Red Bull Theater, the scrappy troupe with a joyously modern outlook on the classics. They have the audience rolling in the aisles."
– Theatermania
