Christopher Marlowe’s play Doctor Faustus has a famed connection with Oxford. In 1966, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor added their very considerable presence to an Oxford University Dramatic Society production at the Playhouse.
“A huge entourage came with them, I think there were about 15 people,” recalled fellow cast member and now children’s play producer David Wood. “Elizabeth Taylor only appeared briefly in the show, but she came up through a trapdoor. Her entourage would see her on to the trap, then rush up to the wings to meet her.”
This month two new Doctor Faustus productions are hitting Oxford — but they may turn out to be very different from each other, not least because there is more than one version of the text. A company called A Group of Oxford Players are presenting the play at Corpus Christi College, while Creation Theatre are staging Doctor Faustus in Blackwell’s Bookshop. In addition, there are a number of associated music and film events, creating an Oxford Faust Festival (full details: oxfordfaustfestival@gmail.com).
Creation’s Doctor Faustus aims to capitalise on Oxford’s position as one of the world’s great university cities. They have surrounded themselves with learning: the three miles of book-laden shelves contained in the subterranean Norrington Room at Blackwell’s.
So when I asked Creation actor Gus Gallagher, who is playing the title role, how he plans to present his character, the answer didn’t come as a complete surprise.
“Faustus is one of these types you get a lot of round here, I suspect. He’s something of a perpetual student.
“The opening text tells that he arrived at Wittenberg, his university town, at a very early age — it could have been as young as 13 or 14. We’ve got him down as something of a childhood genius so far as his intellect is concerned.
“Having arrived at university very early, he’s been there for some time. He’s now in his late twenties, he’s done his first degree, his PhD, and his research fellowship.
“He’s done everything. He’s excelled at divinity, at law, at medicine, at philosophy. He’s an all-round absolute brainiac.
“At the point where the play opens, he’s searching to quench his ongoing thirst for knowledge, answers, and unresolved ambiguities.
“The Norrington Room is a very apt venue for this story because, were Faust alive today, it would be just the place for him.”
Appropriately enough, Gus Gallagher has recently moved to Oxford with his fiancée, but he doesn’t share any of Faustus’s academic abilities.
“My brother’s a lawyer, but I don’t think that counts. I’ve spent all my time in the pursuit of acting, and it doesn’t really answer many questions of physics and law.
“I was a victim of pushy-mum syndrome, which I’m very thankful for, after all this time.
“I had my tenth birthday during my first acting job, Christmas Carol at the Birmingham Rep: I played Tiny Tim. To give that some context, I have my 31st birthday tomorrow, so Faustus is effectively my 21st birthday in the business.”
In the play, Faustus ultimately sells his soul to the devil in return for power and knowledge.
“But how does the devil play with a 21st-century audience?
“Do we believe in him any more, or do we think of him as an overpaid banker reaping in vast bonuses?
“It’s an interesting point,” Gus Gallagher replied. “At the time Doctor Faustus was written, there was a much more solid belief system shared by just about everybody.
“And that system was as much about what not to do, as what to do. So there was the shared idea of Satan, and Hell. But now we live in a more secular, pragmatic society, where we’re forgiven for not being terrified of the fellow with the red tail, and the poky ears.
“I don’t think bankers are the devil, but I think there is a very palpable sense of evil towards which Faustus is invariably drawn.”
Creation Theatre’s Doctor Faustus runs from tomorrow until March 26 at Blackwell’s Bookshop, Broad Street, Oxford. Tickets: www.creationtheatre.co.uk or 01865 766266.
A Group of Oxford Players’ Doctor Faustus is at Corpus Christi College from February 9-13. Tickets: www.wegottickets.
Source : http://wn.com/Dr_Faustus
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