| Volpone | |
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 Poster for a 1939 production, part of theFederal Theatre Project | |
| Written by | Ben Jonson |
| Date premiered | Spring 1606 |
| Place premiered | Globe Theatre, London |
| Original language | Early Modern English |
| Subject | greed,lust |
| Genre | comedy,city comedy |
| Setting | Venice, Renaissance period |
Volpone ([volˈpoːne], Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwrightBen Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements ofcity comedy andbeast fable. A mercilesssatire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-performed play, and it is ranked among the finestJacobean era comedies.[citation needed]
Volpone(The Fox) is a Venetian gentleman who pretends to be on his deathbed after a long illness in order to dupe Voltore(The Vulture), Corbaccio(The Raven) and Corvino(The Crow), three men who aspire to inherit his fortune. In their turns, each man arrives at Volpone's house bearing a luxurious gift, intent upon having his name inscribed to the will of Volpone, as his heir. Mosca(The Fly), Volpone's parasite servant, encourages each of the visitors to believe that he has been named heir to Volpone's fortune. Mosca even persuades Corbaccio to disinherit his own son in favor of Volpone.
To Volpone, Mosca mentions that Corvino has a beautiful wife, Celia. Disguised as Scoto the Mountebank, Volpone goes to see Celia. Corvino drives away "Scoto" (Volpone), who then becomes insistent that he must possess Celia as his own. Mosca deceives Corvino into believing that the moribund Volpone will be cured of his illness if he lies in bed beside a young woman. Believing that Volpone has been rendered impotent by his illness, Corvino offers his wife in order that, when he is revived, Volpone will recognise Corvino as his sole heir.
Just before Corvino and Celia are due to arrive at Volpone's house, Corbaccio's son Bonario arrives to catch his father in the act of disinheriting him. Mosca guides Bonario to a sideroom, and Volpone and Celia are left alone. Upon failing to seduce Celia with fantastic promises of luxury and wealth, Volpone attempts to rape her. Bonario comes forward to rescue Celia. In the ensuing trial at court, the truth of the matter is well-buried by Voltore, using his prowess as a lawyer to convince the Avocatori, with false evidence given by Mosca, Volpone and the other dupes.
There are episodes involving the English travellers Sir and Lady Politic Would-Be and Peregrine. Sir Politic constantly talks of plots and his outlandish business plans, while Lady Would-Be annoys Volpone with her ceaseless talking. Mosca co-ordinates a mix-up between them which leaves Peregrine, a more sophisticated traveller, feeling offended. He humiliates Sir Politic by telling him he is to be arrested for sedition and making him hide inside a giant tortoise shell.
Volpone insists on disguising himself and having it announced that he has died and willed his wealth to Mosca, which enrages the would-be heirs Voltore, Corbaccio and Corvino, and everyone returns to court to dispute the will of Volpone, who becomes entangled in the circumstances of the plots that he and Mosca devised. Despite Volpone's pleas, Mosca refuses to relinquish his new role as a rich man. Volpone reveals himself and his deceits in order to topple the rich Mosca. In the event, Voltore, Corbaccio, Corvino, Mosca and Volpone himself finally are punished.
The play appeared inquarto in early 1607, printed byGeorge Eld for publisherThomas Thorpe. The quarto contains Jonson's dedication toOxford andCambridge, as well as a great number ofcommendatory verses, in English and Latin, by fellow-poets such asFrancis Beaumont andJohn Fletcher. Its next appearance was in thefolio of 1616, and the latter, presumably having been subject to Jonson's careful review, forms the basis of most modern editions.
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The play premiered at theGlobe Theatre in Spring 1606. It was performed by theKing's Men, but casting is uncertain.John Lowin may have performed the title role, as he is associated with the role in James Wright'sHistoria Histrionica (1699).William Gifford hypothesized thatAlexander Cooke may have played Lady Would-be. Either that summer or the next, an outbreak ofplague closed the London theatres, and the company performed the play at Oxford and Cambridge. Jonson may have added the first act's satire onPythagoras for these audiences. The play certainly remained in the King's Men's repertoire throughout the period. It was performed forCharles in 1624 while he was stillPrince of Wales, in 1630, and again at theCockpit-in-Court in 1637.
After theRestoration, the play enjoyed a lengthy prominence:John Genest records over fifty performances before 1770. John Evelyn saw it performed at the court of Charles II on 16 October 1662. When the theatres reopened, the play was owned by the King's Men ofThomas Killigrew; it was performed atDrury Lane in 1663.Michael Mohun played Volpone toHart's Mosca;Katherine Corey played Celia, andRebecca Marshall played Lady Would-be. The same cast was seen bySamuel Pepys in 1665.
The play continued in performance throughout the 18th century.Richard Steele mentions a performance in a 1709 edition ofTatler. Famous eighteenth-century Volpones includedJames Quin; famous Moscas includedCharles Macklin.Colley Cibber played Corvino in his productions; his wife Katherine Shore played Celia, as later didElizabeth Inchbald. As with many other Jacobean plays, Volpone had lost its appeal before the end of the 18th century. Earlier in the century, critics had complained about the improbability of the fifth act, frequently likened to farce, and to Jonson's highly Latinate language. An updated version byGeorge Colman the Elder failed at Drury Lane in 1771. By the end of the century, the objections appeared insurmountable to producers, and the play fell into disuse.
The play was revived by the Phoenix Society at theLyric Hammersmith in 1921;W. B. Yeats was in the audience and mentions the production approvingly in a letter toAllan Wade. TheBirmingham Repertory Theatre staged the play at theMalvern Festival in 1935.
A 1938 production introduced two of the dominant elements of twentieth-century productions: the performance ofDonald Wolfit and animal imagery. Wolfit's dynamic performance in the title role, repeated several times over the next decades, set the standard for modern interpretations of Volpone: Politick's plot was truncated or eliminated, and Mosca (played in 1938 byAlan Wheatley) relegated to a secondary role.
The play has since been staged by a number of famous companies. In 1952,George Devine directedAnthony Quayle (Mosca) andRalph Richardson (Volpone) at theStratford Memorial Theatre. At the same theatre in 1955,Eric Porter played Volpone. In 1968, SirTyrone Guthrie'sNational Theatre production emphasized the beast-fable motif; this production featured stage design byTanya Moiseiwitsch. In the same year, David Raeburn directed a modern dress performance featuring rock music settings of the songs at Beckenham Boys Grammar.
In 1972, the play was staged at theBristol Old Vic. A most memorable production of the 1970s wasPeter Hall's staging for theRoyal National Theatre in 1974, withPaul Scofield as Volpone,Ben Kingsley as Mosca, SirJohn Gielgud as Sir Politick, andIan Charleson as Peregrine. In 1971, theStratford Festival mounted a Canadian production directed byDavid William, withWilliam Hutt in the title role andDouglas Rain as Mosca.[1]
Matthew Warchus received anOlivier Award nomination for his 1995 production at the Royal National Theatre; it featuredMichael Gambon andSimon Russell Beale.
Volpone was adapted byJules Romains andStefan Zweig in their 1928 production, with the ending changed so that Mosca ends up with Volpone's money. This version was used byGeorge Antheil in his 1953operaVolpone.
In 1941 a French film version was released, under the direction of noted filmmakerMaurice Tourneur. Begun in 1938 byJacques de Baroncelli, the production shut down because of financial difficulties. Tourneur took over and the shooting resumed in 1940. This version also used portions of the adaptation by Romains and Zweig.
An adaptation byAlphons Silbermann ran at theIndependent Theatre, Sydney from 3 April to 21 June 1947.[2]
A short-lived 1964Broadway musical adaptation entitledFoxy moved the play's setting to theYukon during thegold rush of 1898.
It wasadapted for Australian television in 1968.
The stage adaptationSly Fox, byLarry Gelbart, updated the setting fromRenaissanceVenice to 19th centurySan Francisco, and changed the tone from satire to farce.
The Honey Pot is a 1967 film byJoseph L. Mankiewicz based onVolpone, although with a romantic subplot and sentimental trappings. It featuredRex Harrison in the main role,Cliff Robertson as Mosca ("McFly"), andMaggie Smith as the love interest. A portion of the original play is presented in private performance for Harrison's character, who states that it is his favourite.
In France, there have been three further video and DVD adaptations ofVolpone based on versions of the Stefan Zweig/Jules Romains script: in 1978,Jean Meyer directed a production in the 'théâtre de boulevard' style for the Théâtre de Marigny and Panorama (Au Théâtre ce soir), starring himself as Corbaccio,Jean Le Poulain as Volpone,Francis Huster as Mosca andClaude Jade as Colomba (Celia). This was followed in 2001 by a production directed byFrancis Perrin with a script that resembles the Zweig/Romains text but rewritten in pseudo-Elizabethan style by Jean Collette and Toni Cecchinato. Bernard Haller plays the part of Volpone, Francis Perrin plays Mosca, and Thibaut Lorain plays Lady Would-Be. In 2003, the play was rewritten for television byÉric-Emmanuel Schmitt for a production starringGérard Depardieu as Volpone andDaniel Prévost as Mosca. The ending is changed to see Volpone and Mosca escaping together with Corbaccio's wife.
In 1974György Fehér adapted the play for theHungarian Television with titleVolpone. Volpone was played byTamás Major.
In 1988 the play was adapted for Italian cinema byMaurizio Ponzi, with the titleIl volpone. Set in modernLiguria, it featuresPaolo Villaggio as Ugo Maria Volpone andEnrico Montesano as Bartolomeo Mosca.
On 24 March 2004,Ian McDiarmid starred as Volpone in aBBC Radio 3 production directed by Peter Kavanagh that includedTom Hollander as Mosca, Malcolm Sinclair as Corvino, Patrick Barlow as Voltore andJohn Rowe as Corbacchio.
In 2004 theWolf Trap Opera Company,Vienna, Virginia, commissioned and produced a new opera based on the play. The score was written byJohn Musto with libretto by Mark Campbell. The world premiere took place atThe Barns at Wolf Trap on 10 March 2004. The opera was produced again in 2007 by the Wolf Trap Opera Company with a new cast featuring Joshua Jeremiah, Jeremy Little, Faith Sherman, andLisa Hopkins. This production was recorded live at The Barns at Wolf Trap for Wolf Trap Recordings and wasnominated in 2010 for aGrammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
Volpone, or, The Fox public domain audiobook atLibriVox| International | |
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