Am not as familiar with Christopher Marlowe, who had an intriguing and tragic life, compared to Shakespeare, but he did write some interesting work. 'Doctor Faustus' was a relatively new discovery and it is an interesting take on the Faust tale, despite a somewhat dull middle section it is devillishly bleak and darkly comic with fun characters. It won't be one of my favourite plays any time soon, but it was nice to have a change from Shakespeare, Chekhov etc once in a while.
Have been on a roll since early last year watching the 2008-2020 productions available on DVD, mostly Shakespeare. There have been some real highs and no real misfires, but a few did disappoint. This 'Doctor Faustus' is not one of those disappointments, but it is also not one of the highs. It is an interesting and entertaining production and a valuable document for anybody wanting to see a stage production available to watch, but it could have done more with the concept.
'Doctor Faustus' succeeds in many areas. Paul Hilton is a charming lead and captures the wounded side of the character poignantly and the striving for knowledge side with eagerness. Pearce Quigley shows once again expertly that he can play comic characters brilliantly, he has hilarious comic timing and doesn't overplay the more physical aspects. Nothing feels forced or like mugging and the most entertaining aspects come from him. Reviews on Arthur Darvill have been mixed, personally liked his sardonic approach to Mephistopheles and he does bring out some menace as well. Wouldn't have said no to him being more devilish. Gluttony, Envy and Lechery are very amusingly and unsettlingly portrayed, Envy particularly due to his athletic presence.
It looks great, capturing the play's bleakness very well and there is a lot of atmosphere in the lighting. The music is also very evocative. The staging does really well keeping the comedy moving along, and it's thankfully comedy that is genuinely funny in a dark way, and really shines with Quigley and with the puppetry. It doesn't hold back on the brutality either. There is also a good deal of charm and Marlowe's text shines. It's well video directed and did like the intimacy and how well it does at making one feel like they are there in the audience.
There was room for improvement. While nailing the comedy, the more dramatic elements aren't as well realised, especially in the rather static and dully paced middle, and when things are meant to be dark and devillish it felt too under-explored.
Don't know what was going on with Lucifer, who looks ridiculous and comes over as more silly than sinister.
Overall, liked it a good deal but wanted to love it. 7/10.
