Plus ca change - The Devil is an Ass

On Saturday I went on one of my rare theatrical outings to see Ben Johnson's play 'The Devil is an Ass' being performed in one of my local pub theatres, the White Bear in Kennington. I am familiar with Johnson's songs and some of his poems but do not know his plays very well. This one was written in 1616, so it could be classified as a Jacobean drama and indeed most of Johnson's works were performed in the reign of James I. The play was a flop in its day and Johnson is better known for some of  his other works such as 'Volpone'.

The plot of the play is that a junior devil is allowed to visit earth for one day to carry out mischief and after pleading to be allowed to be sent to London, which is considered the centre of all vice, he is allowed to go. Arriving in London he is soon taken up by a neer do well who apart from being a gullible fool is also obsessed with cutting a character in society. The fool is soon tricked and cheated by a variety of con merchants based in the City of London, and this is where the play has very modern echoes. For these spivs and charlatans are clearly the ancestors of those who currently run the financial institutions and the hedge funds. They present the gullible character with a list of get rich schemes which includes a project to drain vast areas of fenland in Norfolk. If successful, the grantor will be entitled to gain the title 'Duke of Drownedland'. For the rest of the play the character is introduced to others using this title but it is clear that the intention is to defraud him of every penny he owns. A range of parasiticial characters are introduced, who are all linked to the various schemes and stratagems of the spivs and try to prey upon each others. A veritable image of early capitalism as England began to build its trading and commercial empire.

Another hilarious scene shows a number of fashionable ladies discussing the latest fashions and beauty products from the Spanish court (which at that time was the centre of the fashionable universe) with a 'Spanish lady' who is in reality a young man in pursuit of the gullible noble's wife. This produces a hilarious dialogue where he feeds them with various stories of the foibles of the court and the newest beauty products and their ingredients. Once again there are echoes with the consumerist and celebrity culture of our own day. Plus ca change plus ca meme chose.  There is indeed nothing new under the sun.