| Doctor Faustus (middle, performed by Zach Navarre) ponders selling his soul to the devil as the good angel (left, performed by Sam Driscoll) attempts to dissuade him while the bad angel (right, performed by Allie Levine) attempts to persuade him. (Photos: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune) |
With its new staging of "Doctor Faustus" Lionface Productions stays true to its mission of
providing seriously entertaining theatrics for local audiences.
Bringing the 16th century play that established the trope of a man selling his soul to the devil is
daunting for actors and audiences alike. The Lionface troupe pulls it off with simple staging that makes
the most of the setting, Trinity United Methodist in Bowling Green, attention to diction and, most of
all, charismatic performances.
The lines, a mix of verse and prose, may be knotted with metaphysics and archaic phrasing, but the cast
members never speak them as anything other than their mother tongue, infusing them with youthful energy,
that helps make the ancient new again.
Christopher Marlowe’s "Doctor Faustus and His Amazing Reanimation Morphology," directed by
Christina Hoekstra, is on stage at Trinity United Methodist, 200 N. Summit St. tonight, Friday and
Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7 and $5 for students and seniors.
Central to the cast is Zach Navarre as the not-so-good doctor. Navarre has a spectral look about him,
with a deep brow that can swallow his eyes. He exudes a chilly reason, and haughtiness as he dismisses
one by one medicine, law and most of all divinity as fitting subjects for lifelong study.
He is guided in these deliberations by dueling angels, the good (Sam Driscoll) and the bad (Allie
Levine). Yes, here we have the genesis of that staple of cartoons, the good and bad angels arguing over
the character’s shoulder.
| Doctor Faustus (left, performed by Zach Navarre) observes a dark conjuring book as Mephostophilis the right-hand of Lucifer (right, performed by Kat Mora) beckons him. |
Navarre will not be moved by the good angel’s pleading for his salvations, and all the bad angel has to
do is ease him along in the direction he’s already headed.
As a magician, Faustus announces, he can be a "demigod."
And so arrives Mephostophilis, portrayed in full steampunk regalia by Kat Moran. Never has red lace
looked so menacing. The steampunk setting with its Victorian flair suits the story well, grounding it in
an otherworldly past.
In short time, the contract is executed. Faustus gets 28 years of pleasure and power. In the end the
devil gets his soul.
From then on it’s a whirlwind of action and metaphysics with some slapstick comedy thrown in.
Aside from the principals, the dozen remaining cast members play multiple parts.
The variety is striking – Brigid Randolph plays both Faustus’ friend Cornelius as well as a cardinal and
Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world and Alexander the Great’s paramour.
Griffin Coldiron plays as a wide variety of role without the genre-switching.
Meghan Koesters and Amanda Larsen as a horse wrangle with Coldiron and Randolph score particularly well
as low-lifes in the plain-spoken comedy bits.
Faustus, who terrorizes the powerful including abusing the pope (Mark Krause), doesn’t spare the
underlings, frightening them by surviving decapitation, and turning them into apes or planting horns on
their heads.
The cast also includes Katy Schlegel, Michael Carini, Angelica Cooley, Abbey Casino, Duffee Marie Maddox,
Liz Robertson and Paris Osborne. Pat Mahood is assistant director and Brittany Pausch is stage manager.
In the end, Faustus cannot escape his fate, and Navarre makes his fear palpable as the minutes ticks down
and he waits for the devil’s final call.
