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Marlowe’s Faustus is a precursor of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Introspective and disillusioned with the world, Doctor Faustus attempts to control forces that he does not fully comprehend with disastrous results. Summoning the devil may strain the credibility of a contemporary audience but corruption caused by the obsessive pursuit of wealth and celebrity still resonates.

This production begins in a storeroom or warehouse rather than a scholar’s study. Faustus paints a crude pentagram and occult symbols with the intensity of an action painter.He begins to chant a summons to the powers of darkness and the hypnotic singing is accompanied by music that rises to a strange and terrifying crescendo.

Faustus sells his soul to the devil in return for status and acclamation and power. His twenty four year journey through this new world is soon over and seems increasingly devoid of pleasure and meaning. This is portrayed in the grotesque masque of the seven deadly sins. Sloth’s irritation at being summoned before  is one of the few lighter moments in the play.

A truly sinister Mephistopheles becomes more menacing as he determinedly frustrates Faustus’ attempts to repent. I will not spoil the disturbing and chilling end of the play. Suffice to say that it is a convincing and agonising portrayal of a soul in torment.

The music is wonderful throughout and does much to evoke a world that is unfamiliar and difficult for a modern audience to comprehend. Sandy Grierson and Oliver Ryan find out, as the play starts, which of them  is playing Faustus or Mephistophles. This is decided by observing which of two matches goes out first. On the night I saw the play Sandy Grierson, played Faustus, delivering a powerful performance of sustained restless energy. An intriguing and disturbing production.

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