2016 is a year of remembrance; it commemorates the death of arguably one of the greatest Western written word virtuosos: William Shakespeare. Celebrating four hundred years of Shakespeare’s legacy, London and the world have and will continue to get access to a series of cultural events comprising performances, exhibitions and all sorts of creative activities under the umbrella of Shakespeare400. What many people fail to realise, is that Shakespeare’s legacy transcended his own work and thus, there is a universe of ways in which the quatercentenary year of his dead can be celebrated. 

In the light of this, the reading of 'The Devil is an Ass', part of the Read Not Dead series at Shakespeare’s Globe, plays homage to the debut of Ben Jonson’s play, which is thought to have taken place four hundred years ago, following Shakespeare’s death. The play tells the story of Satan’s subordinate, Pug, who asks to be sent to earth to perform his master’s duty of tempting men to evil, much to his disgrace encountering Fitzdottrel, a man whose ambition is his worst enemy…and soon becomes Pug’s worst nightmare as well. 

After a few hours of first having been given the play script, actors, script in hand, performed for a mixed audience. Blending in amongst viewers, characters progressively emerged from the seating, excitingly building up to a complex story charged with romance, virtue, deceit and punishment. Being performed in a read-through format, however, one would have expected it to last slightly less time than it did, but the hysterical laughter coming out of the room where the play was performed, made up for this minor issue. 

Much as Shakespeare’s oeuvre, Jonson’s comedy remains as relevant now as it was before. By bringing Jonson’s piece to life again, the Read Not Dead adaptation of 'The Devil is an Ass' reminds us of our deepest weaknesses, highlighting that as humans we remain to be as vulnerable to our basic instincts as ever, making us victims of the Devil we all carry within.