![]() ![]() The corridor leading into the theatre was lined with actors in white masks, swaying and grasping menacingly at the audience members who walked through to take their seats. Unfortunately, this rich work lost much of its shine in the Taliesin Theatre’s underwhelming production at the Keble O’Reilly Theatre. Faustus will have Mephistopheles at his service for twenty-four years, after which his soul will be condemned to hell. The plot centres on the titular character’s pact with Lucifer and his servant Mephistopheles. ![]() Although Marlowe was not nearly as prolific as his more celebrated contemporary, Dr Faustus stands alongside the Bard’s best as one of the Elizabethan period’s finest plays. Like some of Shakespeare’s most bewitching plays – A Winter’s Tale and The Tempest come to mind – there is a strangeness present here: dark, almost pre-gothic themes are thrown into relief by comedy and sexual innuendo. Written by Christopher Marlowe in 1592, it signals a move away from medieval drama’s heavy use of allegory, towards the onstage portrayal of complex human psychology. Doctor Faustus is one of my favourite plays. ![]()
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