Dr Faustus, An amazing performance!

During my recent visit to London mentioned in my previous blog update `A new side to London`, me and my crazy mum has to the amazing experience of meeting Kit Harington after watching his amazing performance in Doctor Faustus. After my mum told me about the tickets to seeing Jamie Llyods modern day version of the legendary Christopher Marlowe`s play Doctor Faustus, I was extremely excited but at the same time, I was unsure as to what the play was about. I gathered that it was about a young man who sold his soul to the devil but I still unsure what to expect. My uncertainty grew even further after arriving at the theatre and reading a sign that said to expect `explicit scenes and extreme nudity`, despite the fact that I was even more confused about what I was going to see, a part of me was excited

at the thought of seeing a possible slightly nude Kit Harington.

The performance was simply brilliant and it is safe to say I definitely enjoyed it. Kit Harington played the young scholar Dr Faustus, an ambitious but discontent man who sold his soul to Mephistophilis, an agent of the Devil played by the wonderful actress Jenna Russell. The start of the play saw a discontent Faustus dressed in a hoodie watching TV and moving about appearing hopeless and lost, however, once selling soul, Fraustus is met with fame and success as a world known magician with Mephistophilis by his side. Despite his years of fame and glory, Faustus begins to ponder if he made the right choice after falling in love with his helper, sweet and innocent Wagner. The years flew by and it was soon time for doctor Faustus to pay the prize, his soul, however, he began to regret his decision and wanted to repent his ways. It all took a tragic turn when Faustus committed the ultimate sin after being tempted by Mephistophilis and repenting was no longer an option.

Despite the seriousness and tragedy of the story, there was still room for some laughter and smiles as characters mocked politicians, especially David Cameron and Mephistophilis gave a whopping tune when she performed meatloaf`s Bat out of Hell, she has one hell of a voice! The whole time I was mesmerized by every little aspect of the play from the way the stage moved from one scene to another to the dramatic lighting or the way the characters spoke or moved. The moment the play finished I have wanted to relive it all again and even checked to see if they recorded the performance and was making a DVD version, sadly I have had no luck.

The actors were brilliant! Kit gave out a wonderful performance as Doctor Faustus, I could not keep my eyes of him and that wasn`t because he was half naked the whole time but because the way he spoke as the character and moved so carefully or thoughtfully, I honestly don’t know how to describe it but it made Faustus so much more interesting and alive. Despite my love for Kit Harington and his portrayal of DR Faustus, It is Jenna Russell who dominated the performance for me! Her portrayal of Mephistophilis was breathtaking, the way she brought the character to life adding humor but also fear to the performance and turning a demon into a much loved character, absolutely loved her performance from start to finish!

Of course the ending of the night was almost as good as the show itself as I had the opportunity to meet Kit Harington! As he arrived outside he noticed a women stood next to me and was so happy to see her, I think she was his drama teacher and the reunion was so sweet, especially as his hugged her. He signed an autograph for me and posed for a selfie with me but a few people behind me was trying to get a signed leaflet so instead I ended up giving him my pen to sign their leaflets and missed out on the photo, his guard I think he was said he would ask Kit about taking a photo once he had finished taking photos with others but it was too late. I am still happy though, I was lucky enough to watch the performance and receive an autograph, whilst having an amazing weekend with my mum though it is safe to say it`s my turn to treat her after this.

So many critics gave the performance a harsh two stars but after watching it and seeing how the actors brought it all to live alongside the stage crew, I can definitely say it`s worth more than that, it was wonderful and an amazing experience, my only wish was that Jenna Russell received more credit for her performance. I definitely recommend this to everyone.

Brilliant performance, absolutely loved it!

Stephanie xoxo

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