Bartholomew Fair, Ben Jonson

Any staging of Jonson's Bartholomew Fair is rare, so it's a treat to see a fine production of the play.  Held together with the thinnest of plots, the play primarily delights in its exploration of the sights and sounds of London street life.  The first scene's Puritan household is quickly abandoned for the fair with its pork roasters, tapsters, pickpockets, whores, cons, dupes, as well as the culminating puppet show. 

This must be a maddening play to produce.  Featuring at least half a dozen subplots, it requires 40 actors on stage. On the page, the text is extremely difficult to read and determine exactly what's going on.  Thus, it's wonderful to have a production that's done so much work for its audience.  The various threads were clearly laid out and easy to follow.  Often multiple encounters scattered across the entire stage vied for the viewer's attention, yet the staging kept the eyes and mind focused on the most significant bits.

The acting was uniformly strong, and the staging effectively conveyed the zany energy of the play. I was particularly impressed by Abigail Winter-Culliford's performance as Mooncalf, Ursla's tapster. Only 12, this young actor maintained an active presence both fore and aft through 75% of the play.    

Recommended.