The Alchemist is an adaptation of the original popular comedy by Ben Jonson. When Master Lovewit flees the city for the country to avoid the plague, he leaves his butler, Jeremy, in charge of his London house. Jeremy then masquerades as Captain Face, and joins forces with Subtle, a fellow conman, and Dol Common, a prostitute. Together they use the house as their headquarters to dupe the greedy and gullible residents of London with promises of wealth, immortality, and marital bliss. Ben Jonson’s most famous comedy was first performed in 1610.