Reader Reviews
The Alchemist (Olivier (National Theatre), West End)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | what a shame: three of the finest actors around (russell beale, jennings and richardson) wasted on this tosh. half an hour too long, rushed to the point where it was barely understandable, i can see why two reviewers left at half time. yawwwnnn - 195.93.21.72) | 28 Nov 06 |
| Judging by some of the one * reviews here the writers must have been at the theatre the night I was there - what a dull audience they were!! - but what a wonderful production by Nick Hytner and his superb cast of Ben Jonson's brilliantly witty farce. Alec Jennings is sensational as Subtle the master con-man who accompanied by a superb Simon Russell-Beale as his coniving side-kick Face and with help from Lesley Manville's Dol wreak havoc on their vane and avaricious victims. What a delight it is to see them being duped by this trio of rogues. This modern interpretation off a great play makes it even more accessible to audiences of all ages today. I again congratulate Nick Hytner for another wonderful evening at the theatre. - 172.200.28.227) | 17 Nov 06 |
| If you can, read the play before you see it. The language is difficult, and spoken at such a cracking pace that it's easy to get lost. But hard concentration brings its rewards. Played largely as farce, complete with the obligatory doors and staircases, this production brings out the black humour of Jonson better than any other I've seen. Alex Jennings as Subtle is amazingly accomplished; Simon Russell Beale is never anything but brilliant, but the gem of the evening for me was Ian Richardson's Sir Epicure Mammon. It was a joy to hear Jonson's verse so beautifully articulated. Congratulations to the NT for having the courage to put on this unjustifiably neglected piece. The audience (very full) clearly loved it. Two gripes: why the modern costumes, and why the musicians? The first are anachronistic, and the second unnecessary. - 213.122.90.218) | 07 Nov 06 |
| The set-up first act was getting a bit tedious, the second act's farce was much better. Ian Richardson wasn't on, so I don't know if it's any different with him, but Mammon goes on and on forever. Which is incidentally the main problem I had with this, my first encounter with Ben Jonson, and I don't think the talented actors could've done any better with the material they had. It was alright. - 90.194.226.99) | 18 Oct 06 |
| This is a real hoot from start to finish. In the first half Subtle, Face and Doll carry our a series of cons on "gulls" before a riotous farce of a second half when evrybody turns up at their Blackfriars den at once. In contrast to The Life of Galileo (which this is playing in rep with) the updating to modern dress is not anachronistic, partly because Ben Johnson's text is so accessible. There are some hysterical modern references, particularly the lord who becomes an urban Gangsta, althought he casting of Amit Shah as a corner shopkeeper is a bit iffy. Alex Jennings has the showiest role with turns as a new age guru and Scottish doctor amongst others and Simon Russell Beale is extraordinary as always. How he remembers all this as well as Galileo is beyond me. Highly recommended. - 62.6.139.13) | 12 Oct 06 |
| One of the world's great theatre directors and some of the UK's finest actors wasted on this complete tosh. It's not a great play, but it's worsened by a production which seems to revel in playing it like some amdram in Bridlington. What on earth is Nicholas Hytner thinking of? - 193.35.134.151) | 12 Oct 06 |
| This is a difficult play because the language is so antiquated. That said, anyone with a serious interest in theatre would benefit from reading it beforehand and then going along to this. This is the National at its very, very best. Russell Beale, Jennings, Richardson and Manville: diamonds the lot of them. - 217.196.231.33) | 10 Oct 06 |
| I agree with the comments about it being in the wrong theatre. I was sat near the stage a could hear the actors speak which is vital for the comedy to work. Great performances and glad to see something good at last in the olivier. - 213.86.133.216) | 27 Sep 06 |
| Dreadful. For the first 10 minutes I kept hoping it would improve - it didn't. The interval couldn't come soon enough (at which point we left). Ian Richardson at least spoke with clarity and class, but what are Jennings, Russell-Beale and Manville doing? A turkey garnished with huge slices of ham...... - 80.168.174.114) | 27 Sep 06 |
| Both Alex jennings and Simon Russell Beale are both good actors and the set is nice, even if the cube design seems to restrict the action.The piece has been set in modern day blackfriars / wapping! but for me the production did not gel and lacked comic timing. I left at the interval. - 195.172.125.170) | 21 Sep 06 |
| A couple of hilarious moments (particularly Doll the tart playing the lady) in what otherwise is perhaps a rather pedestrian play satirising people's greed by showing them being 'greedy'. Better however than a lot of truly awful stuff the National has been staging recently. - 84.92.100.126) | 20 Sep 06 |
| Absolutely brilliant. Glorious acting that requires as much suspension of disebelief by the audience as it does by the near-willing dupes. The second half is the pay-off with its combination of superb acting and consumate direction bringing freshness to a difficult yet rewarding text. - 62.252.0.10) | 18 Sep 06 |
| I loved it. It was so funny - and such a good reminder that we can all be gullible at times and desperate for 'miracles'. The cast was terrific - I didn't think their was a weak performance. I especially loved Simon Russell Beale and Alex Jennings performances and Ian Richardson as the randy knight. - 62.252.128.26) | 18 Sep 06 |
| walked out at the interval. what a con. - 81.138.161.145) | 18 Sep 06 |
| 'Shakespeare's only rival': Jonson, Webster, Middleton. What about Marlowe? - 62.136.190.57) | 17 Sep 06 |
| I first saw THE ALCHEMIST at the Old Vic in Tyrone Guthrie's brilliant production in 1962 and for me this remains the benchmark. Like Guthrie, Nicholas Hytner has set the piece in modern dress but unlike him he has not managed to erase some of the anomalies which this produces. There are three great performances - Alex Jennings, Simon Russell Beale and Ian Richardson but I'm afraid that many of the other players are overparted. There is little room for subtlety in the playing and the humour is taken pretty broadly, as it should be. I think the Olivier is too big a theatre for this play - there are many scenes which look lost on the large stage and the "crowd" is pathetically small. You need a warm, user-friendly theatre with easy acoustics for Jonson's knotted sinewy dialogue and the manic drive at times in this production makes it hard to grasp. Not a wasted evening. I'd give it three stars. - 194.106.62.200) | 15 Sep 06 |
| A superb evening. Simon Russell Beale and Alex Jennings are outstanding as verse speakers, which enabled Jonson's accutely observed comedy to sing: when was the last time anyone really laughed at a Shakespeare comedy? The whole cast give fine performances, and at Travelex prices, this might well introduce the delights of Jonson's bawdy to a new generation. In a play which makes much of greed and the fooling of the gullible, Ian Richardson's Mammon manages somehow, in his ultimate disappointment, to demonstrate that aspiration, however voluptuary and dystopian, is still founded in very basic hope. Excellent in every way. - 88.144.45.254) | 13 Sep 06 |
