THE HYSTERIA OF DR FAUSTUS
By Andrew Andrews
The story of Doctor Faustus is as timeless as they come: an intelligent, educated, successful old man becomes bored with life as he knows it, so he sells his eternal soul to the devil in
As with any timeless tale, Faust’s has been rewritten many times since the original Historia von D. Johann Fausten in the late 1500’s. Most recently, playwright Brandon Walker has adapted both the title and plot to modern times with The Hysteria of
With Walker in the title role and director Erin Cronican as his frenemy Mephistopheles, Hysteria opens with a college professor—"I didn’t realize anyone was still called" Heinrich Faustus—lecturing to a disrespectful audience after an apparent tragedy has left him despondent that "every generation [is]
After bailing on the lecture and having his suicide aborted by his teaching assistant, Christine Walker (Cronican), Faustus summons Mephistopheles and negotiates his deal, hoping to "effect positive change" and "heal the world" in order to
Mephistopheles has other goals, however, and encourages Faustus to opt for the "highlights package, which allows for only the good times for those eager
So Heinrich rebrands himself as a thirty-year-old bestselling author named Henry Faust and proceeds to ruin the life of a devout virgin named Gretchen (Broghanne Jessamine) and her aunt Martha (Candice Oden) as a result of his desire to
What makes Hysteria particularly interesting is how quickly the demon is able to trick Faust(us) into abandoning his goal of solving the world’s problems and focus instead
Also of interest is Brian Pacelli’s projections, allowing the scene to change on a moment’s notice without physically
The classic tale has multiple, alternate endings, and we’re not going to give away what happens to this particular Dr. Faustus in this particular interpretation of
For that, you’ll have to check out The Hysteria of Dr. Faustus yourself!
Of course afterwards, be sure to come back and tell us how you feel about
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Andrew Andrews attended THE HYSTERIA OF DR FAUSTUS at Paradise Factory in Manhattan on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 @ 7:00pm to write this review.