The Alchemist as a Plague Comedy: A Conversation with Kay Daly
Episode 235:
Last time I took a first look at ‘The Alchemist’ where Ben Jonson mixed farcical comedy with satire and more serious commentary on the society of the 1610s. The play is notable, among other things, for having the time of plague as it’s setting. It is, I think, the only play from that time to do this. And that was the jumping off point for my conversation with Kay Daly who makes a welcome return to the podcast after having previously discussed Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s world view. Those episodes are still out there on the podcast archive and, I think, well worth a listen if you haven’t done so already.
Kay Daly is a writer, novelist, book and theatre reviewer, teacher, and public humanities advocate. Since earning her Ph.D. in English Literature from Northwestern University, she has written for a variety of publications and organizations including The Chicago Review of Books, TimeOut Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, WNET New York Public Media, The Library of Virginia’s blog UnCommonwealth, Dramatics Magazine, and Centerstage Chicago. She also teaches adult enrichment courses focusing on arts and humanities at the Newberry Library in Chicago. And at the end of this episode you can hear a bit about her debut novel which is also concerned with the world of Ben Jonson and is due out in April 2027.
I spoke to Kay from her home over a zoom call.
Link to Kay's website: https://www.kaydalywriter.com
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