Today's Top Picks
Click a day to view events
Search for things to do
- Events
- Movies
- Dining
- Venues
Arts
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Desert Rose's 'Doctor Faustus' goes goth (C+) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Page, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 21, 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
There's no better Halloween-time play for a classics theater company to stage. Christopher Marlowe's morality-play adaptation of the German myth - about a scholar who, frustrated with the limits of his knowledge and power, sells his soul to Lucifer, by way of servant devil Mephistophilis, in exchange for 24 years of magic and influence - after all, comes packed with demons and devils, sorcery and spooks. Desert Rose director Katherine Stewart (who played Marilyn last month) makes full use of the text's gothic appeal: Her cast dons fishnets and eyeliner, tattoos and raven-black wigs. Even the demonic minions of the first act move with the herky-jerky style of a horror-movie ghoul. Yet it's the casting of Christina Rae, Katherine's sister, as Mephistophilis that stands out as this production's defining stroke of creativity. Reimagining the devil as a sexy seductress overseeing Faustus' (Troy Gleeson) hubric downfall is a clever twist, allowing the actress - who's proven a knack for sultry, empowered characters - to use dashes of devilish charm to flesh out what otherwise would have been a two-dimensional part. The tinge of jealousy that strikes her whenever Faustus turns his attention to the opposite sex radiates from stage. (Plus her Eve Ensler short-flip wig is, frankly, hot stuff.) Director Stewart admits this somewhat trimmed-down "Faustus" was a bit of a rush job in the wake of her exhausting stint starring in "M.M. xx," and there are certainly points in the production that feel less than fully realized. But its biggest frustration is the performance by Gleeson; otherwise a pretty solid local actor, he spent opening weekend flubbing several lines and, showing his uncertainty with the text, rushing through long stretches of dialogue in an inaudibly whispery voice. Desert Rose's 50-seat theater may be intimate, but not enough to decipher mumble. I spent much of the opening weekend show I caught wishing I could sell my soul in order to get him a microphone, or me a hearing aid. "Doctor Faustus" runs 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, closing Nov. 3, at Desert Rose Theatre, 1320 W. University Drive, Mesa. $12-$15. (480) 452-9649 or www.desertrosetheatre.com. Grade: C+ Contact Chris Page by email, or phone (480) 898-5656 |
Rate this article
© 2008 East Valley Tribune. All rights reserved.
Reader comments (0)
This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below. Responsibility lies solely with the comment author.