FAUSTUS

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FAUSTUS
ONLINE LEARNING PACK
National Education
& Youth Partner

CONTENTS
ABOUT BELL SHAKESPEARE 2
FAUSTUS 2011 3
CAST AND CREATIVES
SYNOPSIS OF THE TRAGICALL HISTORY OF DR FAUSTUS BY
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
4
5
SYNOPSIS OF FAUST: THE FIRST PART OF THE TRAGEDY OF JOHANN
WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
CHARACTERS 7
6
BACKGROUND 8
MARLOWE, GOETHE, MILTON AND DRYDEN 9
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR MICHAEL GOW 11
THE DESIGN 15
PRE- AND POST- PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES 20
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS 24

ABOUT BELL SHAKESPEARE
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.”
Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 5)
Having just celebrated our 20 th year, our Learning Programme continues to expand with an ever-growing
repertoire, while extending our geographic reach. In 2011, we are pleased to present our first ever
schools-dedicated production, Romeo And Juliet at the Seymour Centre, Sydney and at The National
Theatre, Melbourne.
Shakespeare was never meant to be read. At Bell Shakespeare we believe that his plays should be
experienced as live performance and taught as great works that stand the test of time. We encourage
new interpretations. We look for contemporary parallels to his 400-year old stories. With this in mind, we
bring you Faustus from one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries – Christopher Marlowe. Faustus is a
brilliant man with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. But when he goes in search of magic, he ends up
summoning the evil Mephistophilis and we soon learn the limits of his mortal comprehension. There is a
price to be paid for instant gratification, and Faustus is prepared to pay it.
Bell Shakespeare highly values its partnerships with all the organisations that support our Learning
Programmes including Optus; BHP Billiton; J.P. Morgan; Australian Unity; Boeing; Wesfarmers Arts;
AUSTAR; Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation; The Ian Potter Foundation; Macquarie Group Foundation;
Scully Fund; James N Kirby Foundation; The Trust Company ATF Archer Trust; Collier Charitable Fund;
Besen Family Foundation; Australia Council for the Arts; Playing Australia; Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations; Arts NSW; Arts SA; NSW Department of Education and Training;
NSW Department of Juvenile Justice, Arts QLD; and ACT Department of Education and Training.
FAUSTUS Online Learning Pack Contributors:
Samantha Tidy (Head of Education, Bell Shakespeare), James Evans (Resident Artist in Education, Bell
Shakespeare), Joanna Erskine (Education Manager), Penny Dalgleish (Master of Applied Theatre
Studies Candidate, University of New England) and Deborah Coulston.
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FAUSTUS 2011
Faustus is a brilliant man. A scholar. But there’s smart and then there’s smart. In his insatiable thirst for
knowledge, Faustus goes in search of magic. But when he summons the evil Mephistophilis, we soon
learn the limits of his mortal comprehension.
Faustus tries to make Mephistophilis his servant, but Mephistophilis works only for the Devil. Blinded by
greed, Faustus proposes a trade: his soul in exchange for 24 years with Mephistophilis.
The Devil says yes.
The cooling-off period expires. The contract is binding. Suddenly, Faustus is headed for an eternity of
horror with no clause for salvation.
Starring John Bell as Mephistophilis and Ben Winspear as Faustus, Michael Gow’s startling adaptation
of Christopher Marlowe’s play takes a closer look at temptation and the price we pay for instant
gratification. Faustus is a co-production with the Queensland Theatre Company.
.
The fascinating characters in this story have interested me for a long time, as have the
many great works of art that have been inspired by them. With a diverse and inspired
creative team, as well as Ben Winspear and John Bell – who’s already dug into two of
Shakespeare’s madder characters with me (Richard of Gloucester and Titus
Andronicus) – this promises to be a really memorable experience.
Michael Gow, Director
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CAST
FAUSTUS
MEPHISTOPHILIS
VALENTINE / LUCIFER / ENSEMBLE
GRETCHEN / ENSEMBLE
MARTHA / HECATE / ENSEMBLE
BELZEBUB / ENSEMBLE
Ben Winspear
John Bell
Jason Klarwein
Kathryn Marquet
Vanessa Downing
Catherine Terracini
CREATIVES
DESIGNER
VIDEO DESIGNER
LIGHTING DESIGNER
COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER
Jonathon Oxlade
Chris More
Jason Glenwright
Phil Slade
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SYNOPSIS OF THE TRAGICALL HISTORY OF DR FAUSTUS BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
Doctor Faustus is a well-respected scholar of logic, medicine and religion, but he has become
dissatisfied with the limits of knowledge and study, so he decides to explore the strength of magic. He
gets advice on the “dark arts” from his friends Valdes and Cornelius and begins dabbling in magic. With
his new-found powers Faustus conjures a devil, Mephistophilis. Faustus renounces heaven and God,
swears allegiance to hell, and demands that Mephistophilis rise to serve him.
Mephistophilis says he has to go and check with his master, Lucifer. When he returns, he lays out the
terms of the deal: Faustus will get 24 years of service and unlimited worldly knowledge and pleasures in
return for his immortal soul. Faustus agrees and signs the deed in blood. As soon as he does so, the
words “Homo fuge”, Latin for “O man, fly”, appear branded on his arm.
Meanwhile, Wagner, Faustus’ servant has learnt some magic from watching Faustus and uses it to
threaten Robin, a clown, into his service.
Mephistophilis gives Faustus a book of magic spells. Faustus begins to waver and considers
repentance, but Mephistophilis answers all his questions about the planets and heavens, although
refuses to answer the question: ‘Who made the universe?’ Faustus again wonders if it is too late to
repent, but he is distracted by a parade of the Seven Deadly Sins, arranged by Mephistophilis: Pride,
Covetousness, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, and finally Lechery.
Faustus uses his new powers to travel to Rome, where he makes himself invisible and plays a series of
tricks. He steals food from the Pope’s banquet and boxes the Pope’s ears.
He becomes well-known throughout the courts of Europe, and is invited to visit the most powerful
monarch of all, German Emperor Charles V, an enemy of the Pope. The Emperor asks Faust to allow
him to see the ancient Macedonian king Alexander the Great, so Faust conjures and image of him. A
knight at the court mocks Faustus’s powers, so Faustus punishes him by making antlers sprout from his
head.
Meanwhile, Robin, Wagner’s clown with his friend Rafe, has picked up some magic, but Mephistophilis
threatens to turn them to animals to punish them for their foolishness.
During his travels, Faustus plays a trick on a horse-trader by selling him a horse that turns into straw
when ridden into a river. He swindles and tricks other hapless victims as well.
Faustus’ 24 years are coming to an end and he dreads his impending death. Faustus has Mephistophilis
call up Helen of Troy to impress some scholars and later calls her up again to examine her beauty. He
tells the scholars about his pact and they pray for him.
On the final night before the end of the 24 years, Faustus begs for mercy and is overcome with fear and
remorse. It is too late – devils appear at midnight and they carry his soul to hell. The scholars find
Faustus’s body and they decide to hold a funeral for him.
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SYNOPSIS OF FAUST: THE FIRST PART OF THE TRAGEDY BY JOHANN WOLFGANG VON
GOETHE
In heaven, the archangels Raphael, Gabriel and Michael sing praises to God. Meanwhile, Satan, known
in Goethe’s text as Mephistophilis, condemns humankind and mocks the studious Faust for his
dedication to God. Mephistophilis bets that he can tempt Faust away from God – providing him the
knowledge he seeks – and thereby win his soul for all eternity. God grants Mephistophilis permission to
tempt Faust.
On Easter morning, as Faust and his assistant, Wagner, go for a walk, a black poodle circles them, then
follows them home. In his study, Faust reads a passage from the Bible – “In the beginning was the
Word” – causing the dog to bark and howl. The dog transforms into Mephistophilis, dressed in the
clothes of a scholar. The two discuss philosophy and Mephistophilis offers Faust a deal: knowledge of
the secrets of the universe and experience of the most profound earthly pleasures, in return for his
immortal soul. Faust accepts, not believing in the immortality of the soul anyway.
Mephistophilis and Faust travel to a tavern in Leipzig, where Mephistophilis plays a trick on a group of
drunks. Faust is not impressed. Mephistophilis decides to step up the magic by offering Faust a liquor
that will restore his youth. He drinks it and instantly becomes a handsome young nobleman.
Mephistophilis tells him that from now on, every woman he meets will look to him like Helen of Troy.
Faust becomes infatuated with a passerby, Margaret, also known as Gretchen, and resolves to seduce
her. While Gretchen is visiting her neighbour, Faust leaves a casket of jewelry (provided by
Mephistophilis) in her room. Gretchen returns and is delighted to discover the jewelry. Her mother is
suspicious, though, and gives it all away to a priest to adorn a shrine of the Virgin Mary. Gretchen is
intrigued by the anonymous gift-giver, and Faust sends her more jewels, which Gretchen keeps secret
from her mother.
Mephistophilis arranges for Faust and Gretchen to meet in the garden. They fall in love, but
Mephistophilis keeps Faust focused on lust. Faust gives Gretchen a bottle of sleeping potion to give to
her mother, so they will not be disturbed. Faust and Gretchen have sex and she becomes pregnant.
Meanwhile, the sleeping potion turns out to be poisonous and Gretchen’s mother is killed. Faust
disappears and Gretchen is filled with regret. When Faust and Mephistophilis return to Gretchen’s home,
her brother, Valentin, confronts them. Faust kills Valentin in a sword fight then flees with Mephistophilis.
A year passes and Faust is still eager for knowledge. He attends an annual gathering of sorcerers and
evil spirits, called Walpurgisnacht, but his thoughts turn again to Gretchen. He has a vision that she has
been imprisoned and, guilt-ridden, persuades Mephistophilis to help him rescue her. After riding magic
horses to the prison at night, Mephistophilis gets them into the dungeon. Faust discovers Gretchen
sitting on a bed of straw awaiting execution for drowning the baby that Faust fathered. She doesn’t
recognise him at first, because she no longer sees him as a young man. Faust tries to get her to escape,
but she refuses, believing she deserves her punishment. When Mephistophilis appears in the cell,
Gretchen recognises him as an evil spirit and begs God for mercy. A voice from above says, “She is
redeemed.” Mephistophilis and Faust disappear.
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CHARACTERS IN MARLOWE’S THE TRAGICALL HISTORY OF DR FAUSTUS
Chorus: Provides narration and commentary
Faustus: Sixteenth-century German scholar, he sells his soul to the devil in exchange for earthly power
and an extra 24 years of life
Mephistophilis: A devil, Faustus’s guide and companion
Wagner: Faustus’s servant
Old Man: Tries to get Faustus to repent
Good Angel
Evil Angel
Lucifer: AKA Satan, the ruler of hell
Beelzebub: A devil
Clown: Becomes Wagner’s servant
Robin: An innkeeper, who, like the Clown, provides a comic contrast to Faustus
Rafe: An ostler, and a friend of Robin
Valdes and Cornelius: Two friends of Faustus, both magicians, who teach him the art of black magic
Horse-courser: A trader who buys a horse from Faustus and gets ripped off
The Pope: Head of the Roman Catholic Church and a powerful political figure in Europe
Emperor Charles V: The most powerful monarch in Europe, whose court Faustus visits
Bruno: A candidate for the papacy, supported by the Emperor. Bruno is captured by the pope Duke of
Vanholt: A German nobleman whom Faustus visits
Benvolio: A German nobleman at the emperor’s court. Humiliated by Faustus, he seeks revenge
Martino and Frederick: Friends of Benvolio who reluctantly join his attempt to kill Faustus
and freed by Faustus
The Scholars
CHARACTERS IN GOETHE’S FAUST: THE FIRST PART OF THE TRAGEDY
The Lord
Raphael, Michael, Gabriel: Archangels
Faust: Scholar, medical doctor and magician
Mephistophilis: The devil
Wagner: Faust’s assistant
Margaret (Also called Gretchen): Young woman who attracts Faust
Valentin: Brother of Gretchen
Martha: Gretchen’s neighbour
Witches, Spirits, Soldiers, Students, Tavern Revelers
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BACKGROUND
Marlowe and Goethe based their work on the life of Johann Georg Faust (1480–1540), a magician,
astrologer, and fortune-teller. Legends about him flourished, often depicting him as evil. According to the
Faustbuch, published in 1587, he traded his immortal soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and 24
years of pleasure. French composer Hector Berlioz wrote an opera, La Damnation de Faust and many
other literary and musical works also derived from the Faust legend.
Main Themes
Sin, redemption, and damnation
The conflict between Medieval and Renaissance values
Absolute power and corruption
The dividedness of human nature
Motifs and symbols
Magic and the supernatural
Practical jokes
Blood
The good angel and the evil angel
Foreshadowing
The play constantly hints at Faustus’s ultimate damnation. His blood congeals when he tries to sign
away his soul, the words Homo fuge appear on his arm after he makes the pact, and he is constantly
tormented by misgivings and fears of hell.
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MARLOWE, GOETHE, MILTON AND DRYDEN
In Bell Shakespeare’s production of Faustus, Michael Gow has included passages from the work of John
Milton and John Dryden, as well as Goethe and Marlowe’s plays.
Christopher Marlowe 1564–1593
Christopher Marlowe was an English poet and playwright.
He studied at Cambridge University and his plays include The Tragicall History of Dr Faustus,
Tamburlaine the Great, The Jew of Malta, and The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage.
Poems include: Hero and Leander and The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.
Marlowe was tragically killed aged 29 after a brawl and there is much mystery surrounding his death. Dr
Faustus was probably his final and most successful play. Originally titled The Tragicall History of D.
Faustus, and later The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, the play was first
published in 1604. It is set in 1580 in Europe, specifically Germany and Italy.
Bell Shakespeare’s production features Marlowe’s poem The Passionate Shepherd to His Love:
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant poises,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me, and be my love.
The shepherd's swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and scientist, and is regarded
as one of the greatest writers in German literary history. Faust is Goethe’s most famous and most widely
read work.
Goethe wrote his first great novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, in 1774, at the age of 25. The novel
was one of the earliest works of the ‘Sturm und Drang’ period of German Romanticism.
The first part of Faust – Der Tragödie erster Teil (Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy) was published in
1808. The second part, Der Tragödie zweiter Teil (Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy), was finished
just before Goethe’s death and published in 1832, after he died. The first part was premiered in its
entirety in 1829, and the complete Faust was not performed until over 100 years after Goethe’s death.
Although Goethe titled the two parts ‘tragedies’, the work ends happily after Faust dies and goes to
heaven. Goethe wrote most of Faust in verse, but some passages are in prose. The verse uses various
metric patterns and rhyme schemes.
John Dryden 1631–1700
John Dryden was an English poet, playwright and critic. He was a major literary figure in the Restoration
period and was appointed Poet Laureate in 1688. In 1678, Dryden wrote All For Love, a very popular
play based on Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra.
Dryden wrote religious verse as well as essays, satirical pieces and translations of major ancient works.
Bell Shakespeare’s production of Faustus includes part of Dryden’s translation of a poem by Ancient
Roman poet Lucretius. Dryden also translated works by Ovid, Horace and Juvenal.
John Milton 1608–1674
John Milton was an English poet who is most famous for writing ‘Paradise Lost’, an epic poem in blank
verse. Milton wrote ‘Paradise Lost’ in 1667, followed by ‘Paradise Regained’ in 1671. He also wrote
sonnets and political and religious prose in English, Latin and Italian.
‘Paradise Lost’ covers the story of Hell and Satan. Milton explores the Christian story of the fall of man,
the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
Milton’s poem has been interpreted to question the Church’s power rather than just a description of the
fall of Adam and Eve. Paganism, Christianity and classic mythology are evident in his poem and he
addresses important topics such as marriage, politics, predestination and the nature of angels.
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INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR, MICHAEL GOW WITH JAMES EVANS, BELL SHAKESPEARE
RESIDENT ARTIST IN EDUCATION
How did the idea arise for a new adaptation of Faustus?
John [Bell] and I have been talking about it for years. We had started with the [Christopher] Marlowe
play, but we both agreed that a lot of the Marlowe isn’t very good. There’s a whole lot of contention about
the middle of the play – all the comedy is written by various collaborators, ‘hacks’, and there are two
quite different versions of the script. Also, we were interested in looking at the character, the legend of
Faustus, quite a significant figure, which meant maybe looking at the Goethe version. And then when we
finally agreed to do it, the way my brain works is to put everything you can possibly think of in, which I
did, and it was about a thousand pages long and kind of ridiculous. Then the editing process starts –
well, what is the story? And what was interesting was that if you sold your soul to the devil for something,
then what is the something? Marlowe says ‘I am going to follow my own appetite, do whatever I want.’
But in Marlowe’s play Dr Faustus doesn’t end up doing very much with his new-found powers.
Exactly. You’d think why not bring about world peace or cure cancer. But theologically you can’t anyway,
because if you’re in league with the devil then no good is going to come of it; it’s not in his nature. So it
became a series of things that he tries, that he wants, which are entirely self-obsessed, including getting
the most innocent school girl he can lay eyes on, and that seemed to justify putting a chunk of the
Goethe in the middle. So by removing a lot of the Marlowe and replacing it with the Goethe, but keeping
the relationship between Mephistophilis and Faustus, you can then look at how it works. What
Mephistophilis keeps offering Faustus is these kinds of diversions to seduce him into wanting more and
more, an internal promise with no payoff. The payoff is you go to hell. So that gave the show a shape.
As well as the Goethe, you’ve chosen an eclectic mix of material for the middle section of the
show. How did you decide on which passages to include? Was consistency of language an
important consideration?
Marlowe didn’t invent blank verse, but he certainly hammered it into shape. Just as Shakespeare’s
career was starting, Marlowe had a big hit with Dido and Aeneas. Then Tamburlaine happened, which
blew everyone away. So I looked at people who were born during Shakespeare’s lifetime and what their
contribution was to verse, as long as they could somehow be incorporated into the text. I wanted
something about the demons going, “Aren’t human beings wonderful? They use this language, this
stuff’s about us.” So there’s passages from [John] Milton and [John] Dryden, as well as the Goethe and
the Marlowe. This show is partly a celebration of language.
There’s one other beautiful bit of Marlowe’s poetry I’ve added. In the Goethe section there’s an endlessly
boring scene where [Faust’s love interest] Gretchen actually does “he loves me, he loves me not”. I’ve
cut that and put in Marlowe’s poem ‘The Passionate Shepherd to His Love’, just to indicate his lyrical
genius. Marlowe was a great poet, probably a better poet than a dramatist, whereas Shakespeare was
both.
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Unlike Shakespeare, Marlowe never really strayed from that thumping regular iambic beat in his
dramatic verse, did he?
Yes, and a lot of it is just a rant. Tamburlaine is laughable, really – it’s just pompous verbiage – but every
so often it will suddenly be amazing. The great thing about Faustus is that all the scenes between
Mephistophilis and Faustus are brilliant. Those scenes where they debate about hell, they’re great; some
of the passages about Helen of Troy are amazing and that finale is incredible.
I understand you’ve included passages from the Bible as well.
Well, I looked at 17th century literature, looking for the devil, Satan, hell, damnation, all that stuff. Peter
Craven wrote an article about the King James Bible recently, and then in the latest Vanity Fair
Christopher Hitchens has a big article about the King James Bible: James put a whole editorial
committee together, and Anthony Burgess’ biography of Shakespeare floats that cute idea that
Shakespeare was on that committee. Some of the verse in the Bible sounds like someone who could
have written Shakespeare – like the Psalms, Song of Solomon. Certainly John Donne was on that
committee around the writing of that version of the Bible. And the reason everyone is still writing about it
is that the King James Bible English is amazing. It’s in our bones even if we don’t know it.
I put in the bit from Isaiah where they talk about being thrown out of heaven and going down into the pit
of hell because [Lucifer] said I am as good as God. I basically put in famous appearances by Satan
written about in the Bible, so there’s that and there’s the bit where he tempts Eve with the apple, and
where he tempts Christ. And then, because [Milton’s] Paradise Lost is about the entire history of hell and
Satan, I put in that speech from Book Two where Satan says, well, this is where we’re going to have to
live, so be it, with that great line: “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven”. And so that became a
performance for them, to do highlights from famous literature.
So each one of these influences, do they appear as separate set pieces in your production?
Yes, there’s little grabs. In the Goethe version, there’s the ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ witches’ Sabbath, so
we’ll do a black mass. It should be quite terrifying because in the end the virgin is brought in and either
symbolically or actually sacrificed. I think Gretchen should be the virgin, so that ties us back into Goethe,
because Faust says, “Why have you been diverting me with all this display? She’s imprisoned, she’s in
trouble, and you’ve got to rescue her.”
The look of the production is that we’re looking back to one of the original versions of the Faustus play,
which is a puppet play. It was actually turned into a puppet play and toured all over Europe, and
Marlowe’s play probably toured throughout Europe as well. So we’re using this kind of heightened
theatrical event, and the reason it’s being done is that Faustus has just killed Gretchen’s brother, so
Mephistophilis is using this show-off moment to distract him from the fact that he’s now a murderer as
well as a seducer and a necromancer.
Ultimately, what does Faustus get for selling his soul? What is his end of the bargain?
Yes, what is the point of Faustus’s bargain? That’s a good question. I mean he doesn’t do anything in
the end, not anything good anyway. He only follows his own instinct. I was reading everything I could
and came across this enormous poem written by [Ancient Roman poet] Lucretius, which Dryden
translated, and there’s this amazing passage where he says, “There’s no such thing as hell – it’s all here
on earth and we’ve invented it.” Even worse than that, the most appalling hell is a guilty conscience.
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Faustus seems to me to be an incredibly lonely figure. He’s been lonely up to the point where the play
starts – he’s spent his life studying all this stuff with which he does nothing. Then he goes out into the
world and does all these amazing things. He sends the pope up and produces Alexander the Great for
some dictator and Helen of Troy for some academic conference, and then he gets to fall in love with a
girl he shouldn’t be in love with. He does all these things but he doesn’t ever make contact with anybody.
It’s all about me, what I want and my appetite. So in the end, his hell – and in my mind we go through
that great finale in Marlowe’s play, of adders and snakes and fiery furnace – but in the end
Mephistophilis says that’s all crap. Your hell is an internal loneliness, thinking about what you did.
Dryden seemed a great way to finish the play off and Dryden just scrapes through in terms of his lifespan
and in that era. He was a great poet, an amazing writer. He wrote a version of Antony and Cleopatra
that’s really interesting.
So is there no connection, no love between Faustus and Gretchen?
I think he does fall in love with her. It’s the first time, but of course it’s all taken away from him because
Mephistophilis knows he can make it crumble and it does. That’s Faustus’ torment. At first it was just
lust, but he says, “Now I’m in love with you and you’re amazing,” and of course as soon as he says that it
all just falls to bits and again he’s left with nothing but the contemplation of how he’s abandoned her and
she’s taken off to get beheaded or hanged. That’s what he’s left with – by trying to fast-track
relationships without the normal processes of human contact, he’s left with nothing.
For centuries this story has inspired not only writers, but many great composers as well. Are you
using any of that music? Perhaps the Schumann [Scenes from Goethe’s Faust] or Berlioz [The
Damnation of Faust]?
We may do a scene where Gretchen is going mad, because the cruelty of it is that he arouses in her this
intense longing that her instincts are saying she shouldn’t follow. But of course she does and then she
gets pregnant and kills the baby. But at the point where’s she going nuts with frustration we’ll have
Vanessa [Downing] singing the Schubert [one of Schubert’s Lieder – Goethe’s verse set to music] while
she just kind of falls to bits. Because it really is a nervous breakdown in six minutes, a brilliant piece of
music. When Valentin comes back, we’ll have the Hungarian march, the Berlioz – The Damnation of
Faust. Then another march from the Gounod opera [Faust] when the army comes back; we may use that
to segue into the Emperor’s scene. These are just early ideas. But we’re doing things like the whole
Gretchen section somehow being underscored with a riff that is the piano accompaniment to the
Schubert, because it’s so obsessive, and then the payoff is that you get to hear the song.
In terms of design motifs, is it all about theatricality and putting on a show? Is that why you’ve
got all the reveals and the screens?
Yes, it’s about the demons that are running the show, revealing these amazing things, screening some
crazy films, so it is very much a little infernal machine. It’s like a Tardis because wherever it lands it will
come for your soul. It’s sort of influenced by CS Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, where he imagines hell
as a kind of hopeless bureaucracy, this endless corridor of devils and demons writing memos to capture
people’s souls. Their techniques are very low tech, whereas in heaven they’ve probably got PowerPoint.
In hell it’s this clunky slideshow stuff.
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The central relationship is of course Faust and Mephistophilis. We really have to like
Mephistophilis don’t we?
Completely.
And do we feel quite sympathetic to him?
I think absolutely. You have to care for both of them. It’s one of the anomalies of the play in the end –
both Goethe and Marlowe. I don’t find Goethe’s Faust at all sympathetic. He’s an idiot, really, but the
Mephistophilis is amazing – he’s so funny and charming and evil and takes such delight in it all. And
although Faust is an idiot, he gets to see with horror what he’s done at the end and with that last
desperate bargaining he just wins you back. You think, you poor deluded fool. I feel greatly for him. You
know, he says he wants to be dissolved into the ocean; he’ll just do anything for one second not to be in
hell. It’s very real and truthful to me.
I think there’s a moment that Marlowe does so beautifully where Faustus is saying there’s no such thing
as hell or damnation and he says, “I’m in hell” – this internal sense of having lost the only love you ever
had.
There’s a quote [from Jean-Paul Sartre’s 1944 play No Exit]: “Hell is other people”. Then there’s “Hell is
other people’s fantasies”, which is from Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. There’s also a quote
from [Dostoevsky’s] The Brothers Karamazov, which is: “What is hell? It is the inability to love”. And I
think that’s in a sense what the whole show is to me – to be selfless and to care about others.
Because, ultimately, selfishness is endlessly unsatisfying, it can never be truly fulfilling.
Yes, and Mephistophilis is in a sense on this painful journey. He keeps building this relationship with
Faust but it can’t go anywhere because his job is to destroy his soul, so in a sense the love story of the
play is between them. Mephistophilis says at one point, “If you love me, don’t do this, please,” and it’s
this weird moment where he gives him a glimpse of an out, because he cares about him. Faust just says,
“Don’t be ridiculous; don’t be a coward.” So I think on that level Mephistophilis is a very human character
and I think that’s what makes the whole show work for me – their relationship. At the end Faust is
begging him: “Let me out, let me out,” and Mephistophilis can’t, there’s nothing he can do. All he can say
is, “Look, this is the truth – there’s no hell fire, there’s just you,” and that’s tragic for both of them. They’re
both set up as interesting and amazing personalities and they’re both diminished by the end.
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THE DESIGN
When a director or set designer starts to think about the design for a production, they often draw their
inspiration from photos or images that they find that communicate to other people, the essence of their
vision. Below are some images that inspired Jonathon Oxlade in the development of the design of
Faustus. You may wish to use these with students after viewing the production to discuss how the set
developed since these images were first collected, and how these images relate to what they have seen
on stage. Overleaf, are the initial hand sketches of the set and costume illustrations by Jonathon Oxlade,
and the beginnings of a set build.
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ACTIVITIES
PRE-PERFORMANCE
ACTIVITY ONE: Character Matrix
Reading and Writing
Create a character matrix, whilst reading the play. This is easy to do using an Excel chart or a Word
document. For each character, have students write the nature of the relationship between the two
characters, identifying the effect they have on one another. Another version of this task could be
completing such a table for each act of the play to ensure student understanding of the play’s plot and
characters.
Faustus Mephistophilis Gretchen Martha Lucifer Old Woman
Faustus
Mephistophilis
Gretchen
Martha
Lucifer
Old Woman
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ACTIVITY TWO: Creating a character profile
Characterisation
Why does Faustus remain timely and relevant in the modern world?
In the 21 st century, is there still a strong desire to know as much as possible about the material and
spiritual world? How would the character of Faustus fit into the modern world? Consider who he is? What
is his profession? How old is he? Is he socially accepted?
Using voice, body language and facial expression introduce your self as ‘Faust in the 21 st century’ to the
rest of the class answering the above questions.
ACTIVITY THREE: Faustus’ demise
Character development
- Discuss how the character of Faustus changes throughout the play?
- Choose three significant moments throughout the play. Create 3 tableaux of Faustus showing the
development of his character at three specific moments in the play.
- Give each tableau a newspaper headline (such as ‘Faust sells his soul’, ‘Dreaded damnation’….)
to summarise his demise.
ACTIVITY FOUR: Good Angel vs. Evil Angel
Improvisation
- Make a list of pros and cons to help Faustus with his decision to sell his soul to the devil.
- Who are the Good and Evil Angels? Create a moving image of Faust with the Good Angel and
Evil Angel at either side trying to get him to listen.
- In groups of 3, in your own words rehearse and perform the Good Angel and Evil Angel scenario
where Faust is making his decision to sell his soul to the devil.
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ACTIVITY FIVE: Seven deadly sins
Improvisation
- Create your own personifications of the seven deadly sins (Pride, Covetousness, Envy, Wrath,
Gluttony, Sloth, and Lechery). Walk around the room as each sin considering voice, movement,
facial expression.
- Choose one sin to develop and get into pairs. Create an improvisation where Faustus meets one
of the sins and the sin uses temptation to lure him into joining him in his/ her mischief.
- How do they respond to each other? Which Sins find it easier to tempt Faustus?
ACTIVITY SIX: Questions
Essay topics
Questions to discuss with students in light of Michael Gow’s adaptation of Faustus:
What is knowledge? Where does it come from? Do we create knowledge? Is knowledge out there
somewhere, waiting to be found?
What is damnation?
Faust shares in common with the rest of humankind an inborn desire to know as much as
possible about the material and spiritual worlds. When pursuing such knowledge, does a person
ever encounter boundaries that he or she must not cross? In other words, are.there ethical and
moral considerations that limit the scope of a person’s quest for knowledge?
When does Faustus have misgivings about his pact with Lucifer? What makes him desire to
repent? Why do you think he fails to repent?
Discuss the character of Mephistophilis. How much of a role does he play in Faustus’s
damnation? How does Marlowe complicate his character and inspire our sympathy?
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ACTIVITIES
POST-PERFORMANCE
ACTIVITY ONE: Production Concept and Design
Production Analysis
Think back over the production of Faustus. Consider the design of the set.
1. How would you describe the set?
In which ways was it:
a. Realistic?
b. Natural?
c. Symbolic?
d. Abstract?
2. Which elements created mood and atmosphere?
3. Describe each element of the staging of this production of the play. In your opinion, what did
each element represent?
Recall the costumes.
4. How did the costumes show characters’ status and position?
5. How did the costumes reflect the characters’ state of mind?
Recall a climactic moment in the production.
6. What was happening in the dialogue?
7. How was this portrayed on stage? (Set, costume, sound, music, lighting)
Considering your responses in this activity, write a review of the production with references to the effects
of the design upon your personal response to the story of Faustus.
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