Comedy by Ben Jonson / German version by Simon Werle
Volpone, the unscrupulous fox, and his devious servant Mosca have developed a lucrative business model to increase their wealth: Volpone pretends to be terminally ill, attracting a host of greedy suitors for his inheritance. They shower him with generous gifts in the hope of securing his favor and thus a promising inheritance. But Volpone and Mosca spin a perfidious web of deception and manipulation. While Volpone cleverly leads his admirers around by the nose, Mosca is a cunning string-puller who ensures that the heir hiders outdo each other - and does not even shy away from family betrayal. But eventually the chaotic web takes on a life of its own and no one can be safe from the consequences of their own desires.
Ben Jonson, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, has created a crude comedy about human weaknesses and the dangerously tempting power of money in Volpone that is still relevant today.
