USM Gulf Park Campus to Host Ben Jonsons Volpone March 21
Wed, 03/14/2018 - 09:40am | By: Jenny Tate
Featuring performers from the Atlanta-based Resurgens Theatre Company, Ben Jonson's Volpone will be presented on Wednesday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fleming Education Center Auditorium on The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach.
The comedic satire, Volpone, has been lauded for centuries by literary lions such as John Dryden and T.S. Eliot. Samuel Pepys, the famous mid-17th century diarist called it, “a most excellent play – the best I think I ever saw.”
The play draws on themes of greed, lust and dishonesty.
“Jonson's Volpone really comes alive on the stage,” said Dr. Christopher Foley, event organizer and assistant professor of English at USM. “Volpone and his sidekick Mosca are consummate conmen and theatrical performers.”
“At a moment when topical political satire is flourishing on late-night sketch comedy and talk shows, Volpone demonstrates the continuing relevance of Jonson and his unique brand of satire to our own contemporary moment,” Foley added.
Volpone is directed by Dr. Brent Griffin, Artistic Director for the Resurgens Theatre Company and Assistant Professor of English at the University of North Georgia.
The presentation of Volpone is part of the company's March 2018 “Atlanta to Austin Tour.”
“I'm most looking forward to observing how the audience responds to the troupe's incorporation of ‘original practices,' which might include more actor-audience interaction than theatergoers are accustomed to in modern theatrical settings,” Foley said.
The public is also invited to a 4 p.m. workshop on “Original Practices” of the Shakespearean Theatre and a 5:30 p.m. pre-performance talk. A Q&A will follow the two-hour performance. Refreshments will be served beginning at 5 p.m. All events are free.
The project is made possible by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Support is also provided by the College of Arts and Letters and the Office of the Vice Provost for the Gulf Park campus.
For more information about the Volpone workshop, pre-performance talk, or performance, contact Dr. Christopher Foley at Christopher.D.FoleyFREEMississippi.