Taking on the notoriously difficult Dr Faustus is, if nothing else, a signal of how ambitious and interesting the Royal Exchange in Manchester has become in recent years. After all, this is where Simon Stephens’ Punk Rock - now in its a second run at the Lyric Hammersmith - enjoyed its world premiere last year. In March, Matthew Dunster’s new adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 was quite magnificent. And how does Toby Frow’s mischievous new production of Dr Faustus follow in their footsteps? With a moment straight out of Stephen Spielberg horror movie Carrie.
If Frow doesn’t play Dr Faustus for laughs exactly, he certainly can’t wait to get its bloodthirsty teeth into the ‘fun’ which arrives after Faustus has sold his soul to the devil. The seven deadly sins are inventively characterised by outsized masks, there are some genuinely special effects worthy of any magician as Faustus loses his head to an embarrassed Benvolio, and the slathering acolytes who help Faustus exact revenge are straight out of a zombie film.
But in revelling in these set-pieces, not enough attention is paid to why Faustus has made his famous pact with the dark side in the first place. The opening scenes are too static, and Patrick O’Kane as Faustus seems to compensate here by over-acting. As a launching pad into the mind of this conflicted man, it’s problematic - and from there, O’Kane never really conjures up a firm idea of what kind of Faustus he wants to be.
Yet that - and a competent rather than outstanding cast - still doesn’t matter - for two out of the three hours director Toby Frow and his designer Ben Stones really do fashion a funny, shocking and completely enveloping Renaissance play. Yes, it’s even magical.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)
