Dr Faustus
Old Fire Station Theatre, Tue 4th - Sat 8th May 2004

The enduring popularity of Marlowe's Dr Faustus, is a little surprising given the fact that it's a difficult play both to stage and to watch; an uneasy mix of tragedy and comedy with a less than uplifting plot. While this popularity presumably owes something to the play's repeated appearance on the A-Level syllabus, it is also testament to the quality of the text itself. Whatever the debate about which parts of the uneven whole can actually be attributed to Marlowe, there's no doubt that this is an intensely powerful play. In the current ODT production, director Jackie Keirs has tried to do something a little different with intellectually and emotionally demanding material, and the result is interesting and often pretty funny.

Whilst sticking to the original language, ODT have set Faustus firmly in the present day. The great intellectual rejects the former influences of his learning after reading them from disks on his computer (rather a clunking looking one - he is an academic, after all). Later, swapping donnish knitted tank tops for a sharp suit, he embraces a glitzy celebrity lifestyle in the company of Mephistopheles, travelling the world and upgrading to a laptop and cd-roms. It's a nice, if not hugely original, take on an old theme, and the yields some great comedy moments (Faustus and Mephistopheles' holiday snaps, for one), but this is still a production that doesn't seem quite sure what it wants to be. While the modern day setting serves to jazz up the play's lacklustre comedy scenes (helped along by some fine performances from Paul Ham and Amy Stanstell), Faustus' internal debates and interaction with Mephistopheles seem to lack power. The reward of sin, it seems, is little more than a computer upgrade, and as such the suffering and death of Faustus is difficult to take seriously. Although Alex Nicholls gives a creditable performance as the doomed doctor, he makes him so unlikeable that it's hard to sympathise with his struggle.

This production is fun, and had the audience of A-level students engaged and laughing, but ultimately, I think, fails to do justice to the serious side of Marlowe's play. It deserves praise, however, for its interest and humour.

Susie Cogan 4th May 2004