Paul Scofield as Volpone

Charcoal drawing by R. Eldridge of Paul Scofield as Volpone, National Theatre, 1977

Paul Scofield (1922-2008) played the title role in Ben Jonson's play at the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre, directed by Peter Hall. The performance was highly praised. Frank Marcus, writing in the Sunday Telegraph of 1 May 1977, called it one of the biggest performances of Scofield's career: 'his vocal range is truly astonishing, encompassing a senile treble on his supposed death-bed, the mountebank's harangue, and a most beautiful and beguiling song during the wooing of the merchant's wife'. The drawing shows Volpone feinting illness.