The deliciously bawdy “Volpone” has been dusted off and given new life in an entertaining production that features an enthusiastic cast and artful direction.

Written in the 1600s, “Volpone” has been “freely adapted” by Stefan Zweig from Ben Johnson’s play. It’s a commedia dell’arte-style farce involving the stingy Volpone (Robert Ackerman) and the predatory group of friends who lust after his fortune.

Knowing that they are all waiting for him to bequeath them his riches, he and his shifty toady Mosca (Bradford Askew) decide to play a few tricks to see to what extremes greed will lead.

The aud must stretch its imagination for the events that follow, but the wonderfully adept blocking by 95-year-old director Martin Magner and the actors’ timing make “Volpone” fun to watch.

Stage space is never wasted as actors move fluidly from place to place, and the often lengthy monologues are delivered with relish by the entire cast.

Under Magner’s direction, Kevin McDonald (Corvino), Molly Maslin (Columba) and Scott Vance (Leone, Capitano) take their characters into contemporary areas.

McDonald and Maslin play a neurotic merchant and his docile wife, while Vance makes the most of a soldier with a definite Type A personality. All are played very much for laughs and it works.

Leads Ackerman and Askew are fiery as the two schemers, with Ackerman playing correctly over-the-top, while Askew’s reactions and ease with dialogue make his Mosca the appropriate cohort.

Set design by Don Gruber is short on style and long on pragmatism, making the set changes between scenes move quickly with little fuss.

Volpone

(Harman Avenue Theatre, Hollywood; 84 seats; $ 15 top)

Production: New Theatre Inc. in association with Goethe Institut, Los Angeles German Cultural Center presents a play in two acts freely adapted by Stefan Zweig from the play by Ben Johnson (Zweig's German-language version translated by Carl S. Mueller). Producer-director, Martin Magner; set and lighting design, Don Gruber; costume design, Anthony John Padilla; sound, Tony Pearson. Opened March 3, 1995; reviewed March 18; runs through April 8. Running time: 2 hours, 10 min.
Cast: Cast: Robert Ackerman, Bradford Askew, Martin Berkowitz, Colleen Caddell, Tim Didlake, Barbara Jansen, Molly Maslin, Kevin McDonald, Jeffrey Patterson, Keith Towles, Scott Vance, Bill Zuckert.

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Volpone