The Alchemist, Liverpool Playhouse
Liverpool Playhouse: Biting and satirical, Ben Jonson's expose of the human capacity for self-deception probably had Jacobean audiences rolling in the aisles. Today, too much exposure to arcane Jonsonian humour is likely to end up with just a couple of rows of smiley faces. Rather like the philosopher's vinegar administered by the play's central trio of tricksters, obscure Jacobean lingo is a mysteriou…