Review: DOCTOR FAUSTUS, Duke of York's Theatre, April 21 2016

Doctor Faustus is arguably Christopher Marlowe's best-loved and most well known play. What would we give to get whatever we wanted? In Marlowe's production, Faustus literally sells his soul to the devil in order to gain knowledge. However, Jamie Lloyd's adaptation gives it a more modern twist.

This modern take on Faustus is grotesque and shocking from the outset. Opening in the Doctor's studio-like home (designed by Soutra Gilmour), we see Faustus (Kit Harington) pacing his study, searching for even more knowledge to better understand the world, while the chorus dressed in grimy white vests and underwear peek in at the windows and around door frames in a zombie-like manner. He is visited by a female Mephistopheles (brilliantly played by Jenna Russell) dressed in a dirty nightgown who promises everything Faustus could ever want for 24 years if he just signs over his soul to the devil (Forbes Masson) damning himself to an eternity in hell.

There's so much going on in each scene it becomes increasingly difficult to know where to look and sometimes the whole thing seems slightly incoherent. While it is well known that Marlowe's original midsection is rather dull, Colin Teevan's rewrite is a stark contrast to the Elizabethan text of Marlowe sandwiched either side of it. The modern prose shows Fastus as a famous magician with his own headline show in Las Vegas, rivalling stars such as Derren Brown and David Blaine. It introduces us to the celebrity culture where famous faces both alive and dead congratulate Faustus on his fame and fortune and also references current events, including the recent insight into David Cameron's offshore investments for some cheap laughs.

Five years on from his last stage performance, Harington is able to command the audience's attention, particularly in the second act when things start to unravel for Faustus. Russell is able to inject some comedy at the start of the second act when she performs a number of musical hits including 'Better the Devil You Know' and Meatloaf's 'Bat Out of Hell' which had the entire audience singing along. The lighting by Jon Clark is highly emotive and during the final scenes, the light on stage grows darker as Faustus' life line fades away and he has to pay the price for selling his soul.

Doctor Faustus is vulgar, grotesque, sexually charged and shocking and although it promises an awful lot, it doesn't necessarily deliver.

Photo Credit: Marc Brenner