The appearance in 2013 of Ian Donaldson’s brilliant life-and-works book on Shakespeare’s friend and only serious rival Ben Jonson proves a wonderful stimulus for the study of three of his sourly evergreen comedies, The Alchemist, Volpone and Bartholemew Fair, and his tragedy Sejanus, recently and successfully revived at Stratford. There will be many laughs and much entertainment as well as a scattering of acid!