“Dr Faustus” by Christopher Marlowe
Nottingham New Theatre

“The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus”, commonly referred to simply as “Doctor Faustus”, is an Elizabethan tragedy by Christopher Marlowe, based on German stories about the title character Faust,

Not happy with his lot, Dr Faustus is hungry, nay greedy for more knowledge, and with knowledge comes power, so he uses magic to summon Mephistophilis, a devil, to act as a go between between him and Lucifer so that he can make a pact with him.

Faustus strikes a deal with Lucifer to be allotted 24 years of life on Earth, during which time he will have Mephistophilis as his personal servant and the ability to use magic; however, at the end he will give his body and soul over to Lucifer as payment and spend the rest of time as one damned to Hell. This deal is to be sealed in the form of a contract written in Faustus' own blood.

Dr. Faustus does nothing worthwhile, having begun his pact with the attitude that he would be able to do anything. Instead, he merely uses his temporary powers for his own entertainment.

The Nottingham New Theatre last did this play, as far as I can remember, four years ago as a project with Lakeside when it was directed by Martin Berry and that was the first time that I had seen this brilliant piece of literature on stage.

Marlowe is often mentioned in the same breath as Shakespeare and having loved the New Theatre’s full version of “Macbeth” earlier this year – it remains one of my favourite productions of the Bard’s play to date – “Faustus” really got my theatrical juices flowing.

For me I think this adaptation was just a bit too off the wall for me, even missing out the dramatic ending when Faustus is dragged into hell. Instead there was a change of costume and Faustus returned to watch a news report, taking the play full circle from whence it started.

What I did like though was the intervention from "The Voice" - God - to try and save Faustus from throwing away his life by telling him that it's never too late to repent, as this shows that Faustus was steadfast and resolute in carrying out his pact, but with this being an adaptation, he could have relented and the ending may have been another different one!

This ending though confused the audience as to whether this was the end, with some unsure as to clap or just leave.

Now I embrace a different slant to a classic piece of theatre, God knows I've seen enough variations of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to appreciate this, but Daniel McVey's adaptation of the Marlowe classic just didn't grab me, I'm afraid.

In the programme Daniel says "This play promises to be unlike any Faustus you've ever seen before and you're likely to see again. This play is not Marlowe's Doctor Faustus" and I will agree with that statement.

In the end scene Faustus says, "I'm just an actor on a stage and these are the words I've been given to say".so let me talk briefly about the actors.

There are a fair few newbies here and they all performed the parts well and I enjoyed the energy they put in, and I can't wait to see what they do next.

Morgan Beale (Doctor Faustus) worked his part really well. he looked confident and comfortable and gave a believable debut performance for NNT,

Grace Williams (Mephistopheles) also gave another one of her brilliant performances that I've become used to seeing.

Jack Ellis (The Voice) is a pretty laid back Godly character who doesn't forsake Faustus easily, but a God still can only do so much.

Sarah Ingham (Pride/Scolar), Ellen Schaffert (Greed/Attendant), Caitie Pardoe (Lust/Knight), , Olly O'Regan (Gluttony/Duke/Alexander), all make their debuts for NNT.

Megan Peace (Wrath/Melchozedek) and Olly Binns (Sloth/Emporer), Selin Aci (Envy/Helen/Duchess/Paramor) add to their NNT theatrical CV's with their roles.

By the way I absolutely loved the lighting design for this play, Sam Osborne and the addition of the choreography by Zoe Smith.

Theatre can be a very subjective world, which is why even though this adaptation wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, i know that it will appeal to many others. I applaud Daniel though for "tearing Marlowe's play to shreds to ensure that he would be spinning in his grave" - Daniel's quote, not mine. This new, and brave outlook is what keeps theatre as fresh and radical as it is today.

"Dr Faustus" is at the Nottingham New Theatre until Saturday 1 December 2018