On the last day of my holiday I went into Liverpool for the day. I had a ticket booked for a performance of Dr Faustus at the Liverpool Playhouse. I confess my main reason for attending the performance is that the star of performance, Jamie Bamber (who played Mephistopheles) is on my list of Obscure British Actors I Fancy! Some of you may know him as Kennedy from the Hornblower series (starring Ioan Gruffud, also on the OBAIF list…) but most would now know him from his role as Apollo in the new series of Battlestar Galactica. The girls on the Jamie Bamber Forum (www.jamiebamber.co.uk/jbforum) know him as their little Crumpet… but that’s another story entirely… 😉
I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. I had never seen a performance of Dr Faustus before, and this was an impressive one (in my limited experience). The setting was a modern one, lots of corduroy and woollen pullovers. Jamie Bamber’s Mephistopheles was terrifying and vulnerable all at once, making you unable to decide whether he horrified you, or if you wouldn’t mind taking him home for a hot dinner and a comforting cuddle (are you meant to feel this way about Mephistopheles?). It was quite an athletic performance too, with lots of jumping about on tables.
The other notable performance for me was that of Michael Brown, who played the female roles, among others. While he is quite a handsome young bloke, he made quite an alarmingly beautiful Helen of Troy! Hmmm… very pretty indeed!
The finale of the performance was spectacular, with real flames used to during the burning of the library – quite dramatic, especially since I was in the front row, and could feel the heat! All in all, a satisfying introduction to Marlow for me!
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