The Alchemist

B+

Red Bull Theater is in fine form with this lively version of Ben Jonson’s 1610 farce. The same creative team — Jesse Berger, director; Jeffrey Hatcher, adaptor; Alexis Distler, set designer; and Tilly Grimes, costume designer — who brought us The Government Inspector have created another audience pleaser. The uniformly excellent cast of ten skilled farceurs performs with a combination of precision and abandon. To escape the plague, a wealthy Londoner has retired to the country and left his house under the care of his butler (Manoel Felciano), who invites two con artists, Subtle (Reg Rogers) and Dol Common (Jennifer Sanchez), to join him and turn the house into a base for perpetrating lucrative scams on gullible locals. Their intended victims include Abel Drugger (Nathan Christopher), a meek tobacconist; Dapper (Carson Elrod), a legal clerk with a gambling habit; Sir Epicure Mammon (Jacob Ming-Trent), a rich man and his skeptical servant Surly (Louis Mustillo); Ananais (Stephen DeRosa), a religious fanatic; Kastril (Allen Tedder), an angry young man, and Dame Pliant (Teresa Avia Lim), his widowed sister. The ensuing antics are too convoluted to describe here. The six doors, two stairways and one secret panel all get lots of use. The dialogue is filled with amusing anachronisms. The plot even manages to work in a touch of James Bond and a Brooklyn accent. The frantic activity wears a bit thin after intermission, but that’s a minor complaint. It’s a delightful treat for those who care for this sort of thing. If you liked The Government Inspector, you will probably enjoy The Alchemist. (Running time: two hours including intermission.)

Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) ***

On the basis of this first installment of Suzan-Lori Parks’s nine-part epic about the African-American experience from the mid-19th century to the present, now at the Public Theater, it is easy to understand why this highly original playwright won both a Pulitzer and a MacArthur grant. In “A Measure of a Man” Hero (Sterling K. Brown), a slave on a Texas plantation, must decide whether to follow his master to war in exchange for a promise of freedom. His wife Penny (Jenny Jules), his father figure The Oldest Old Man (Peter Jay Fernandez) and his oft-time rival Homer (Jeremie Harris) weigh in with their opinions and The Chorus of Less Than Desirable Slaves make bets on his decision. Parks’s mashup of Greek drama, poetic language, anachronisms, music and humor somehow works. In “A Battle in the Wilderness,” the most naturalistic of the evening’s plays, we meet Hero’s master (Ken Marks), now a Confederate colonel, and the Union soldier he has captured (Louis Cancelmi). The two of them spar over the nature of slavery. The colonel is allowed to display a soft side and the captured soldier reveals a couple of surprises. Hero and the soldier find a common bond. In “The Union of My Confederate Parts” we return to the plantation many months later. Only Penny and Homer are left of the original slaves. Three runaway slaves who are hiding at the plantation try to persuade Homer to run off with them, but he is unwilling to leave Penny, who is tormented by nightmares about Hero. Word reaches the plantation that both the master and Hero are dead. However, Odyssey (Jacob Ming-Trent), Hero’s long lost dog, arrives and tells of Hero’s imminent return. When Hero, who has renamed himself Ulysses, arrives, he reveals previously unseen aspects of his character that are far from heroic. The question of what freedom costs remains open. Parks's incidental music and songs are beautifully performed by Steven Bargonetti. Jo Bonney’s direction is exemplary. The simple set by Neil Patel is effective and Esosa’s deliberately anachronistic costumes are a hoot. Parks proves that dealing with serious subjects can still leave lots of room to be entertaining. I hope the remaining six parts maintain the high level of these three. Running time: 3 hours, including one intermission.