THE ALCHEMIST Begins Tour On 2/23 In Brisbane

Three con artists, nine gullible Londoners and cash to burn - Ben Jonson's comedy The Alchemist is set to dazzle audiences with its big cast, fast pace and outrageous wit when it opens in Brisbane on 23 February for the first leg of its national tour.

A Queensland Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare co-production, The Alchemist sees a deceitful trio of London's bottom scrapers dexterously swindle lawyers, widows, sex addicts and power hungry preachers.

Victims are hoodwinked with tricks from the magic of alchemy to the art of feng shui - but will these con artists get away with it?

Director John Bell says, "The Alchemist is a brilliant comedy about people's gullibility and willingness to be conned. It provides a fine cast of actors with a rich variety of comic characterisations as the con-men and their victims. Ben Jonson demonstrates that human greed and folly are much the same today as they were 400 years ago in this lively, boisterous and colourful satire."

With a cast of twelve, this show bucks the theatre trend for smaller casts instead focussing on delivering big laughs, wildly extravagant characters and a story that reflects the gullible and Machiavellian tendencies in us all.

Written in 1610, The Alchemist is an outstanding comedy, admired by renowned English poet, critic and philosopher Samuel Coleridge, who considered the play to have one of the "most perfect plots ever planned."

"One of the funniest plays in the English language"
- The Guardian

Director: John Bell
Designer: Bruce McKinven
Lighting Designer: Matt Scott
Cast: Sandro Colarelli, Patrick Dickson, Russell Kiefel, Peter Kowitz, Bryan Probets, Liz Skitch, Lucas Stibbard, Richard Sydenham, Georgina Symes, Andrew Tighe, David Whitney and Scott Witt

Brisbane Season
Venue: Playhouse, QPAC South Brisbane
Season: Previews: 23 - 25 February/Opens: 26 February/Closes: 14 March
Playing schedule: Tue 6.30pm/Wed - Sat 7.30pm (Mon Preview 6:30pm in Opening Week)
Matinees Wed 1.00pm/Sat 2.00pm (No Wed Matinee in Opening Week)
Tickets: Single Tickets on sale 19 January 2009 from QTIX 136246 or www.qldtheatreco.com.au
Adults: $53-$63/Concession $40-$53/Under 30: $30
National touring season: Also touring to Sydney, Canberra and Perth - see www.qldtheatreco.com.au for more details

 

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