All art is political Jonson. Otherwise it would just be decoration. Anonymous
I enjoyed your little comedy Jonson. You have potential. Thank you. Potential. Thank you, my Lord.
But it's politics that seem to have quite an effect on the tower. My father-in-laws men felt it quite seditious. Politics, my play has nothing to do with the politics. It's just a simple comedy. It showed your betters as fool who go through life barely managing to get food from plate to mouth if not for the cleverness of their servants. All art is political Jonson. Otherwise it would just be decoration. And all artists have something to say. Otherwise they'd make shoes. And you are not a cobbler, are you Jonson?
Francesco?
A play, my Lord? One you shall stage, bank side. Stage? Under your name. My name, my Lord? Well, I can't very well use my name, can I? I'm the 17th Earl of Oxford. I have a reputation to protect. In my world one does not write plays, Jonson. People like you do.
Scene from Anonymous, with Sebastian Armesto as Ben Jonson and Rhys Ifans as Earl of Oxford.
