Faustus review

New Hull theatre company From Below is back with its take on Faustus. Stage at the Dock is an appropriate setting and the late evening timing of the show helps lend things a sense of wonder. The production features flaming swords and a script that mixes contemporary politics with slapstick.

Asmodius (Josh Overton) is the king of the demons and a one-man chorus who introduces the audience to Faustus (a truly outstanding performance by Oliver Strong) a professor at the University of Hull obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge. After his friend Gwydion (Emily Gray) is arrested by the king’s guard Ponsonby (Jack Fielding) for stealing a book of magic from the evil King (Ed Grimoldby), Faustus summons Asmodius and asks for help in rescuing his friend. As well as seeking to kill Gwydion, the King also seeks to crash the UK economy so he can consolidate all its wealth.

Though Overton’s play is aimed at a family audience, the first half, in particular, is as incisive a political commentary as one could wish to see on a stage, at once overt and subtle. This is a show that often has adults and children laughing at the same political jokes for different reasons.

The performers transmit a sense of playfulness to the audience. Strong has a special ability to make the audience feel as though he is on their side and has superb comic timing. Grimoldby plays the King like a classic pantomime villain. It is the small touches that set him apart, from his ludicrous walk to his raspy voice.

At times, the production struggles with pacing. In part, this is because the satire goes from light-touch in the first part to heavy-handed later on. It begins with Ponsonby as the political vehicle of the show, a self-described cog in the machine who also manages to articulate the problems with a global economy. At the end, it becomes more didactic, with Gwydion delivering an impassioned speech on supporting each other and moving on. The change jars mostly because the political intent of the piece is clear without the signposting.

This is an exciting debut. The quality of the acting and writing is such that the choreography and fire-spinning feel like delightful bonuses rather than devices. In its mischievousness, self-awareness and sense of the epic, Faustus delivers a summer spectacular.