Greed, Lust, Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy and Pride are at the heart of Larry Gelbart’s Sly Fox, a modern adaptation of a 17th century comedy Volpone by Ben Jonson.  Moved from Renaissance Venice to the Gold Rush of San Francisco at the end of the 19th century Mr. Gelbart has masterfully transformed a satire into a farce which, in layman’s terms, elevates the stakes that the characters are playing for to life and death intensity, making them so big we cannot help but laugh and therefore driving the comedy of the piece.

The plot is simple:  Our protagonist, Foxwell Sly is feigning illness and approaching death in order to bilk his “friends” out of their money and valuables.  He has each one of them thinking that they will inherit his entire estate and in their pursuit of obscene wealth, will have a miser disinherit a son, a maniacally jealous man pimp his wife and a greedy lawyer present him with a gold goblet stolen from his church.

With a philosophy of “Never think too little of people.  There’s always a little less to be thought”, Sly presents the underbelly of human nature that is frighteningly timeless and timely.