Doctor Faustus: Something's Brewing in the Lab

Doctor Faustus @ Paradise in Augustines

Tiger House Theatre’s modern adaptation of Christopher Marlow’s Doctor Faustus is part synth score B-movie part Black Mirror. The show follows Dr. Emma Faustus as she searches for a cure for Valde’s Disease, a genetic heart defect. A disease that killed her young lover, Beth; and now Emma spends all her energy trying to find a cure so she can get closure for Beth’s sudden death. After budget cuts at the lab, she has done all her research, Emma is approached by a mysterious businesswoman Mephistopheles who offers her the research facility of her dreams. But, she may never leave and must not speak of any of the things she sees while in HEL. Emma has reservations about leaving the facility where all her research is stored, but after an altercation with her boss’s son, she leaves for HEL. Once there, Mephistopheles offers her the opportunity to rewind time and bring back Beth, but what Emma discovers is that you can never turn back time.

I was very pleased with the choices that were made in the adaptation, all the main characters are women, and Emma and Beth’s relationship was a refreshing modern twist to Marlow’s story. Also, for the heterocentric genre of musical theatre as a whole. I thought the show was a bit rushed though. There were moments I wished were longer, but I understand that Fringe has a toll on the content. So, I would hope for another venue, this show could be allowed to breathe a bit to allow the actors a bit more time to process their actions. The set was superb for a Fringe show; the frosted boards transferred the light in a way that it made the space seem as if it was pulsing with energy. The sharp jagged lines gave it that Fortress of Solitude feel. The music, for me, is what does this play a disservice. The music reminded me of those late 80’s early 90’s late-night cheesy horror movies you watched when you were at a teen sleepover. The synth orchestration made it feel inauthentic in parts that were quite endearing, mostly the Beth and Emma scenes. It did work for Mephistopheles, so maybe varying the sound of the songs from synth to traditional orchestra may help to differentiate HEL from Emma’s inner turmoil. There was one classic Broadway song with the boss’s son, but because you’ve set up this sci-fi driven orchestration, it seems out of place. The lyrics for this song are also more rudimentary than some of the more introspective moments, such as Emma and Beth’s duet. As an operetta, if there was more variant in the songs it would help break up the show for the audience. As it is, it feels like one long song and makes it hard for any of the songs to be memorable.

The performances varied quite a bit. The actress who played Beth was perfectly cast. She, as an audience member, was easy to fall in love with, enough to want to dedicate your life to avenge her death; her siren-like vocal quality was soothing, hitting me straight in the gut. Emma’s voice was also quite good, her belt was insane, but at times I was worried about her voice because of the piece’s strain on her chords; you could hear toward the end the fatigue in her voice, but not for any fault of her own. The part would be vocally challenging for any actress and thought she did superbly. The least successful for me was the actor who played the boss’s son. His comic timing was a little off, and his baby face was hard to get past to despise him as the villain of the piece. The character would have been better served by someone a bit older and able to embody the rat like quality of this character.

As a new musical this show has great potential. I hope that Tiger House keeps working on this piece, elongating it to a more manageable 2 hours vs. the challenging 1:15 that the Fringe facilitates. The structure is there and with a few tweaks through orchestration and casting could be something special.