Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
Faustus was one of the most hotly-anticipated plays of the term. Written by student James Wilkes and directed by Kate Shenton, the show was sharp, stylish and dark. But as the audience stumbled out of the first ever performance of the show that’s headed for the Fringe Festival and London, there was an air of bewilderment.
We had all seen the teaser photos and had expected something raunchy. Trust me, I’m not a prude, but why all the grinding? And the stroking? All the time? Is it really necessary to the artistic integrity of the play to put your head there?! Was it burlesque for the sake of being ‘modern’? It was never really explained. I wasn’t sure if we were meant to be seduced, appalled, or embarrassed, and so I was left a bit confused.
Trust me, I’m not a prude, but why all the grinding? And the stroking? All the time?
The interpretation of Marlow’s original Faustus missed out on some of the genius of the original; Faustus was too helpless and too uncomprehending to portray the man with a soul caught in the balance, salvation itself never seemed palpable, sex isn’t as shocking as it used to be, quite frankly, doesn’t scare most people any more. At the same time Faustus failed to offer us a deeper exploration of the sins themselves, on which the play focused, and they remained at little 2-D. If this was all a comment on the nature of theatre, and the morality of the voyeur, it was a little oblique. It didn’t help that the choreography needed practise, but this is early days, and ‘Faustus’ has some way to go before it is Fringe-worthy.
Yet, the play did provide some brilliant moments of black humour and some very watchable performances from some of the best acting talent in York. In his final monologue, Alex Lawless emerged from the role of stuttering simpleton (of the I-was-just-going-to-the-shop-to-get-some-milk-and-I-was-suddenly-kidnapped-by-this-band-of-writhing-women type) to give a heart-wrenching performance. Veronica Hare and Chi-San Howard provided the audience with the most haunting impressions of a devil’s personal hell.
The performance certainly achieved its sinister look as a circus and nightmare, an exposure of man’s inner-most desires, but it lacked a certain substance and clarity of ideas.
hmm I'm not sure what to make of this rendition - the opening I founs rather singular and powerful but after that it seems like the script didn't know what it was doing. The actors managed to make it interesting but most of it simply appeared gratuitous... Mephistophles (sp?) was amazing though!
Having watched the show twice I think you have missed the point slightly.The vulnerability of Faustus is contrasted with the sexual confidence of the sins. Although there was a lot of sexual content I think that this is what shows the danger of Faustus' position and the trouble he has got himself into. I also don't agree with your point about the dancing, I thought is was great.Finally why does one have to leave a play understanding everything? Is there something wrong with forming your own opinions and thinking about it for yourself?
Whilst I agree with #2 about the fact that one need not understand everything about the play to enjoy it/ for it to be "good" (I use the adjective cautiously, as it begs who is ascribing labels of "good" and "bad" and what kind of value judgements are at stake) Modern (or postmodern, or post-postmodern) theatre often makes me think: "what is so wrong with conventional narrative? Why does everything need to be oversexualised?"
Indeed, I thought the play lost some its potency because of its explicit-ness.I see your point about Faustus' weakness, however, in the Faust legend and the Marlowe text, Faustus SUMMONS the devils himself!
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