Doctor Faustus

I watched Doctor Faustus at Duke of York Theatre and give it a 2.5/5 rating.

In spite of the terrible reviews the play had already received, we wanted to watch it. Mostly for Jamie Lloyd (we had just watched The Maids) and some what for Kit Harington.

Firstly, Kit Harington. Everyone knows he plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones and he had come back from the dead which means that he will have to continue to maintain his hairstyle, which means whatever movie or play he acts in, he will look like Jon Snow. When the series started, he was one of the worst actors on show and as seasons passed I assumed I got used to his acting than he getting better. So when he was wonderful on stage as Doctor Faustus, I was pleasantly surprised. He blended into Doctor Faustus swinging between vanity and despair.

Secondly, Jamie Lloyd's play. It was superbly terrible. The first half was downright incomprehensible. The dialogues are archaic and the sets are not. The cast is too small and they are all wearing this hideous piece of cloth. So while you are struggling to understand what is happening because the words are difficult, the people are the same so it doesn't help. And the 'modern' costumes and set were just laziness on Jamie Lloyd's part. Because we certainly could have done with some grandeur if the words were so grand, or make the words as simple as the costumes. There was some mention of Obama and some modernity but who cares when you can't relate to the rest of it. Also there was some random piece of nudity for no reason at all. I mean if Lucifer is going to wear rags, do your dear magicians need to be nude? The only part I liked was when Mephistopheles first comes out of the ground.

The 2.5/5 rating is a combination of 5/5 for Kit Harington and Jenny Russell (who plays the sarcastic Mephistopheles) and a 0/5 for everything else.
We should have left while we could, during the interval.

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