Ben Jonson
This tragic masterpiece by English playwright Ben Jonson explores the life of Roman soldier Lucius Aelius Seianus, who was a close friend and confidant of the emperor TIberius. After a public performance of the play at the Globe theater, Jonson was accused of treason, as some believed the play to be a commentary on political events in England.
In this Renaissance comedy, a marriage that was entered into for all the wrong reasons goes hilariously astray. The grumpy curmudgeon Morose chooses his wife solely on the basis of how quiet he perceives her to be, as he detests brashness, loud noise, and revelry of all kinds. But soon after the nuptials take place, the union begins to falter.
In the late sixteenth century, English playwright Ben Jonson revitalized an ancient style of comedic theater known as "comedy of humours." Drawing on the theory that each person has a particular trait — or "humour" — that defines their personality and perspective, Every Man in His Humour explores what happens when people with diametrically opposed humours are forced to interact with each other.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge said of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist that it had one out of the three most perfect plots in literature. This play, with its sharp portrayal of human folly, is considered by many to be Jonson's best comedy. First performed 1610, its popularity has endured to this day.
This satirical drama from one of the only playwrights regarded as a contemporary equal of Shakespeare may have originally been performed in the early 1600s, but it feels remarkably fresh centuries later. Beginning with a prologue which devolves into a slapstick comedy that presages postmodern irony, the play recounts a solemn religious observance that is much more than it appears to be.
In this uproarious satire from Jacobean playwright Ben Jonson, the clever Venetian gentleman Volpone hatches an outrageous scheme to dupe a greedy trio of hangers-on who are after his fortune. A ragtag cast of characters, including a dwarf, a eunuch, and a hermaphrodite, get caught up in the plot along the way.